Bloody Nightshade
by Marluxia of Avalon
Summary: An assassin who is called a murderer, a murderer who is called a military genius. A girl with nothing but hatred for her father, a man just starting to understand his greatest mistakes. Just who is Sirris Balfour? And in the end, has the bloodshed been worth it? Part I of the Bloodline Trilogy. Complete. 'T' for violence and cursing.
1. Chapter I, Lies

**Tony: I'm back with a new story! Ahem, anyways… This story was born of a random bit of inspiration that bloomed… far beyond what I expected it to. Anyways, this is something new that I'm trying out… Some of the chapters will be longer than this, some slightly shorter. What can I say, I'm not a consistent writer. However, I am a consistent updater.**

**Leon: Do yourself a favor and shut up before you start pulling a Kairi.**

**Tony: Ahem… -sticks Leon back into the CCoD- Now that that distraction is gone… I do not own Tales of the Abyss, sadly. However, OC's are mine. I hope you enjoy my new story.**

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><p><strong>Bloody Nightshade<strong>

**Chapter I**

**Assassin**

No one noticed her. Ever. No one saw the little girl with the red hair. No one saw the small child who carried the knife with the dark blue blade. But she liked it that way. It made hiding her secrets so much easier.

Her eyes scanned the streets, looking for any enemy she might have overlooked. No one saw her from her position under the stairs. No one saw the blood-red hair, or the strange eyes that shone out from under her bangs. One eye was the color of liquid gold, but the other was silver. However, even stranger than the colors of her eyes were her pupils, which were elongated like a reptile's.

The knife at her waist was sheathed. Her dress and the capris she wore underneath it were tattered and torn, but her boots were still in pretty good shape. She pulled the hood of the dress up to cover her face as she left the shadows of the staircase. She headed to the elevator carefully and headed up to the next level, cautious as always.

Anyone who did see her wouldn't have cared. She was a vagabond in their eyes, and they were to be ignored. But the girl was cautious anyways. Some people did notice her, and it was these people who had gotten in her way the last time she had tried to carry out her master's orders. Of course, she had gotten better since then, but her master didn't want better. He wanted perfect.

No one stopped her as she disappeared into the shadows again. Looking around, she noted every person she saw, then, once she was certain that she hadn't missed anyone, nodded and stepped out of the shadows once more, heading for the next elevator. It carried her to the top level of the city, and her instincts kicked in. She disappeared straight into the nearest shadows, and just in the nick of time.

The young man who walked past didn't notice her, but she noted him carefully. 'Blonde hair, green eyes, swordsman, noble…' The information ran through her head faster than most would have thought possible. Then she started moving again, heading up the stairs. She examined the knight standing in front of the manor she had to infiltrate.

For almost an hour, she wandered around the perimeter of that manor. Then, the young man she had noticed earlier returned, carrying, of all things, groceries. 'He's hiding too,' she thought. 'This might be my chance…' Gathering her wits about her, she walked over to the man.

"Excuse me, sir? Do you know where I might find a small job of some sort?" the girl asked, letting her voice fall into the deeper tones that she used often. Her dress was short, and easily mistaken for a coat, so she hoped that this man, like so many others, would believe her to be a boy.

"Huh? Oh, um, well… I'm sure someone at the Fabre manor could find something small for you to do. What's your name?" he asked. The girl shifted her weight onto her left foot as she thought of a name.

"Soren," she answered.

"Alright, Soren. Let's see if we can find you something," he said. "By the way, I'm Guy." The girl nodded and followed him into the manor quietly. The knight on guard glanced at her, but that was it.

A woman with red hair wearing a green, brown, and white dress was standing in the entrance hall when Guy and the girl walked in. "Oh, who's this?" she asked, seeing the girl.

"This is Soren. He's looking for a small job… I was going to ask Pere if he'd let him help with the gardening," Guy explained. The woman smiled.

"What do you think, Soren? Would you like to help with the gardening?" she asked the girl. She nodded.

"I'll do anything. I don't mean to sound rude, but I need money. I have to help pay off my parents' debt," she lied.

"We'll see what we can do about that. We could always use more help around the manor. Guy, why don't you find Soren a room? And some new clothes would probably be a good idea as well," the lady suggested. Guy bowed slightly.

"Yes, ma'am," he said. He headed towards a door, and the girl followed him. "Actually, how would you feel about sharing a room with me and Pere?" the blonde man suggested. The girl considered the suggestion seriously.

"No thank you. I have insomnia… I don't want to keep you two up all night," she replied. Guy nodded.

"That's fine," he said. Then, an elderly man walked into the hallway. "Oh, Pere!" Guy called. The man turned to look at the blonde, and smiled and the child by his side.

"Where did this little girl come from?" Pere asked. The girl's heart nearly stopped in her chest.

"I'm not a girl! I'm a boy, and my name is Soren!" she said loudly, managing to keep her voice in a deep register. Pere looked confused for a moment, then he looked truly apologetic.

"I'm sorry. My eyesight must be failing. You're a small thing, then," he apologized. The girl crossed her arms.

"I realize I'm small. But I'm almost twelve, so you don't have to treat me like a little kid," she grumbled. Guy laughed nervously.

"Okay… Um, Pere, would you mind taking these groceries to Ariel? I have to find Soren a room," the blonde jumped in, attempting to prevent any injuries. He had noticed the knife on the girl's belt, and guessed that she knew how to use it.

"Alright. Well, I'll see you later, Soren," Pere said, taking the groceries from Guy. The blonde then continued walking, and the girl continued following. Soon, they came to another door, which Guy opened. Running along this new hallway were doors, and Guy turned right, heading for what the girl hoped was an empty room.

Much to her pleasure, the room he took her to was empty, and there was only one bed in it. "Here. You look like you prefer living by yourself. Anyways, there's a small bathroom through that door. Um… Do you want to go find clothes now or later?" he asked. The girl thought about it.

"Now," she replied. Guy led her further down the hall and they walked into a room with a bunch of clothes in it. The girl smiled slightly. This room contained only boy's clothes. She and Guy found a set of clothes that they thought would fit her, and then they grabbed a second set. She found her way back to her room and changed quickly.

The black pants weren't form-fitting, so they weren't a problem. Her nearly-knee-high boots were boy's boots to begin with, so she didn't get rid of them. Her tattered dress, however, was replaced by a simple white long-sleeved shirt. Over that white shirt, she wore a black coat with a hood. It hung down near her ankles, and she buttoned up the part that covered her torso.

Over her slightly dainty fingers were fingerless brown gloves. She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed, then looked around the room. In the top drawer of the dresser, she found what she had been hoping to find. Pulling the scissors out, she walked over to the mirror.

"Time for a haircut, Sirris," she whispered. "Soren's hair isn't this long." She then proceeded to cut her hair, removing almost six inches from the back. Her bangs, she left as they were, then focused in on her eyes. She thought of the sky, of the blue, blue sky, and of the ocean, everything that was blue.

The silver one changed first. Then, slowly, so painfully slowly, the gold eye turned blue. Then she concentrated on the pupils. Round. Round like the sun, like that little ball of string you used to play with. And slowly, like her irises, the pupils shifted and became round. She sighed with the effort, but knew that she now had a time limit.

Unless urged to, her eyes wouldn't change back for another three hours. That gave her three hours to complete her mission and escape. Three hours wasn't that much time, and Sirris knew that. So she either had to work quickly… Or come up with a reason to be standing in front of a reflective surface every three hours until her mission was completed.

Sirris sighed and walked away from the mirror, preparing herself for the inevitable; meeting her target. She didn't make it far before Guy caught up to her.

"Hey, Soren!" he called out, running up alongside her. "Heh, I actually expected you to be wearing the hood up. By the way, your hair's uneven in the back," he said. Sirris rolled her eyes.

"I know. It always ends up that way," she grumbled. Guy smiled.

"I can even it out for you, if you want," he said. Sirris allowed a small smile.

"Really?" she asked. Guy nodded.

"Yup," he replied. "Come on, I've got some scissors in my room," he added, walking back a few doors and opening one. Sirris followed him. Guy did exactly as he had said he would, cutting her hair so it was even, even layering it a little at her uncomfortable request. He laughed a little when she shook her head, letting the short locks fly.

"Hey, can you climb trees?" the blonde asked suddenly. Sirris nodded.

"Quite well, actually. Why?" the redhead replied. Guy smiled.

"I want you to meet my friend. He's the young master, so we aren't allowed to just walk into his room. But there's a tree right next to his window, so I climb up it all the time to visit him," he explained. This information sent Sirris's mind abuzz. A route to the son of Duke Fabre was good, very good.

"Okay," she said, trying not to sound super enthusiastic. Guy's smile never faded.

"Come on," he said. The man and his new friend left the room and headed out into the courtyard. They skirted it, moving around the edge and behind a small building that appeared to be placed in the middle of nowhere. On the far side of the small building was a tree, and Sirris assumed that the building was actually the room of the young master.

"Up here," Guy said, climbing the tree skillfully. Sirris examined the tree before following him up, taking a slightly different path up, but reaching the window in the exact same amount of time.

"Luke," Guy greeted the boy inside. His long red hair hung down near his waist, and his bangs fell into his face slightly. The white coat he wore showed his belly. His green eyes were cold as the fell on the supposed boy that had followed Guy up the tree.

"Who's he?" Luke asked. Guy jumped down from the windowsill, and Sirris sat on it after pulling the rest of her body in.

"This is Soren. He's just started working in the manor today," Guy explained. Luke crossed his arms.

"So why'd you bring him here?" the boy inquired.

"I thought he might be good with a sword. Besides, Van won't be coming for another day or so, and I've pretty much got today off, so I figured that today was as good a day as any for some practice," the blonde replied. Sirris resisted a smile. She hadn't held a sword in a long time, only her knife.

"Sounds pretty good to me," Luke said, smiling. The two boys walked out the door after grabbing three practice swords. Sirris wondered for a moment how many practice swords one kid needed, then reflected on the fact that they were made of wood and could break.

Luke handed one of the swords to Guy, then tossed one to Sirris. She grabbed it carefully by the hilt and swung it a few times experimentally. It was the same length as a full-sized sword, so it was a little long for her, but she sighed and decided that she would just have to adjust.

Luke, Guy, and Sirris took turns attacking each other. When one of them got tired or was hit, they would switch out, and the one that had been standing out would come in and take their place. At first, Luke and Sirris took turns facing Guy, before he ran out of breath and they faced each other. Then after a minute or so of the two of them sparring, Sirris hit Luke and Guy came in. Then, the three of them rotated out pretty evenly.

Sirris excused herself to the bathroom once, but neither Luke nor Guy questioned her reasons. In reality, she was going to find a mirror, so she could let her eyes return to their normal states and then force them back to blue, with the normal, round pupils.

It was nearly dark when Lady Suzanne and Princess Natalia walked into the courtyard. Luke and Guy were laughing, and even Sirris was smiling. Natalia stormed over to the small red-haired child and crossed her arms.

"What do you think you're doing, little girl, running around in boy's clothes?" she asked haughtily. Sirris glared at her.

"Uh, Natalia. Soren's a boy," Luke told her. Natalia looked at Luke over her shoulder.

"Ridiculous!" she replied. Guy sighed.

"Natalia, I don't think Soren's very happy with you right now," the blonde man informed her. Sirris was, indeed, annoyed at the princess.

"You're the second person who's mistaken me for a girl. I know I'm small, I know my voice is soft, and I know I look like I'm supposed to be female, but for bloody Lorelei's sake, I'm a freaking boy!" Sirris yelled. Natalia looked at the child in shock.

"Why I never…" she started. Suzanne, however, was laughing.

"Natalia, dear, why don't we let Guy and Soren eat? We need to eat as well," the duchess said. Natalia glared at Sirris before taking one of Luke's hands and taking the sword out of the other.

"Here, put this back in his room," she said. Guy took it carefully, and he and Sirris put the swords up in Luke's room. Sirris ate with Pere and Guy, then retreated to her room to plan.

"I can do it tonight. I know the way into Luke's room now, and if I wait until it's really late… Wait, I don't know when the guard changes," she whispered to herself. "Looks like I'm stuck here a few more days, then."

The next morning, Sirris tucked her knife into a secret sheath on the inside of her boot. The knife wouldn't get in the way, but at the same time, she wouldn't appear to be armed. The regular sheath was put with her tattered dress, which she had kept hidden under her bed.

She stepped out into the hallway, just in time to bump into Guy. "Wha- Oh, hey, Soren. Looking for breakfast?" he asked. Sirris nodded. "Not very talkative, are you?"

"No," Sirris replied curtly.

Guy sighed. "Alright. Come on, I was headed to the kitchen myself," he told her. She followed him quietly, and then her first day as a servant in the Fabre manor began.

The butler handed her whatever odd jobs showed up around the manor, and she did them as quickly as possible. By the end of the day, Ramdas was having troubles finding things for the girl in disguise to do.

"Young Master Luke is supposed to be in a lesson right now. Why don't you go listen and see if you learn something?" he finally suggested with a sigh. Sirris nodded.

"Alright. But if you need me to do anything else, I'll be more than happy to do it," she told him. Sirris now knew exactly where Luke's room was, and, since she had been given permission, she headed to the door and knocked.

The tutor opened the door and stared down at the child with confusion in his eyes. "I finished all of my work, so Ramdas told me to come and listen," Sirris told the man politely. "May I?"

"Of course you may, young man. Everyone has the right to pursue knowledge, and I am more than happy to bestow it," the somewhat elderly man said with a small smile. Sirris stepped into the room quietly. "I'm afraid that we only have two chairs though," the man added.

"That's fine, I'll just sit over here," she said, sitting in the window. The man then returned to explaining mathematical equations to Luke. Sirris tilted her head and listened avidly. This was material that she had never learned. She had learned her numbers, and basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and so on, but this was harder.

After a while, the man handed Luke a piece of paper, and then handed Sirris one as well, as well as a pen. "You're welcome to try the exercises as well, young man," he told her. Sirris smiled and put the paper down on the windowsill next to her and started to work through the equations.

For the young child, it was a challenge. And all challenges were meant to be beaten. However, halfway through the first problem she growled. Then she ran back through the steps she had already done. The tutor walked over to her to look at what she was doing.

"You need to use square roots to simplify from this part," he told her. Sirris sighed.

"A square root is the number that multiplies by itself to get this number, right?" she asked. The tutor nodded.

"Yes. How much schooling have you had?" he replied. Sirris sighed again.

"Enough to get by on a farm, but not enough for a big city," she muttered. "Let's see… square root of one hundred sixty-nine… one sixty-nine, one sixty… Thirteen."

"It sounds like you've had a better education than that. Not many farm children I know can figure out the square root of one hundred sixty-nine without wasting an hour guessing and checking," he told the girl. Sirris shrugged.

"I've got a head for math," she told him. While it wasn't a complete lie, it wasn't exactly the truth either. Once she figured out the first question, the rest of the worksheet was relatively easy. Luke, however, was not enjoying himself.

"Gah! I hate these square roots!" he grumbled. Sirris bit her lip to keep from smiling. So, in an attempt at making him feel better, she walked over to Luke and looked at his paper. His handwriting was much harder to read than her neat numbers, but it was easy enough.

"They're easy enough if you think of it from the other direction," she told him. Luke looked at her like she was crazy.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"What's thirteen squared?" she countered. Luke looked up at the ceiling as if he was expecting the answer to be there.

"Um… Hang on!" he said, looking down at his paper. "One sixty-nine… Did you pick that one on purpose?"

"No… Thirteen's my favorite number. Anyways, do you know the squares of all the numbers up to thirteen? Because I think the only number with a square root larger than thirteen is four hundred," she told him. "If nothing else, run the numbers through your head until you find the one that matches. Guess-and-check is a rather haphazard method, but it does work."

"Huh… Thanks," Luke said, turning back to his paper. Sirris checked over her own answers before looking around.

"Hey, where's that tutor?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, he'll be back in a minute. It's been a while, so he probably went to the bathroom," Luke told her. Sirris shrugged and sat in the window again. A few minutes later, the tutor returned.

"Well, now. Are you both finished? Or do you need more time?" he asked. Sirris held out her paper, but Luke shook his head.

"Not quite. Almost there, though," the redhead told the man. The tutor smiled.

"Not a problem, young man. Now let's see what you've got. What's your name, again?" he said, turning to Sirris.

"Soren," she answered simply. The tutor nodded.

"Let's see what you've got, Soren. Hmm… Your handwriting is rather neat for a farmboy," he observed. Sirris shrugged.

"Mother insisted that my handwriting be perfect. I don't know why; it's not like it'll matter too much in the future. I have every intention of returning to the farm," she told him. There was silence for many minutes until a knock at the door caught their attention. Sirris jumped out of the window to get the door.

"Can we help you?" she asked the maid standing there. The brunette woman smiled at Sirris.

"I was told to come get you, Soren. Ramdas has something else for you to do," she informed the girl. Sirris nodded.

"Right," she said. Then she turned back to Luke and the tutor, who were both looking at her. "My apologies, but I'm afraid I have to go."

"Here, you might as well take this with you," the tutor told her, holding her paper out so that Luke couldn't see it, since his paper was still on the desk. Sirris stepped forward to grab the paper and left, closing the door behind her. As she pushed the door to the entrance hall open, she finally looked at the paper and smiled.

Of the ten equations on the paper, she had only missed one. And, looking back over it, she understood why and made a mental note of it. She was so focused on the page that she nearly walked into Ramdas' back.

"Oh, my apologies," she said quickly as bumped into his arm. Ramdas had seen her coming just in time and stepped to the side slightly.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" he asked with a touch of amusement in his voice. Sirris nodded and showed him the paper. "Hmm… Well done, for a child your age."

"I was told you had another job for me?" she asked. Ramdas nodded and proceeded to explain the job to her. It was simple, really, so she got to work right away.

That night, she climbed into her bed with a smile still on her face.

The next two days passed similarly. She would work as hard as possible until the late afternoon, then join Luke while his tutors rambled on. It was a different tutor every day, but apparently they came back every week on the same day. The second day that Sirris spent as a servant saw a teacher of geography, a subject that she tuned out of almost entirely before flying through the paper she was given.

The third day, she was forced to sit through a lesson on the fonic language. This tutor, unlike the one from the day before, was aware of her boredom, and tutored her in Ancient Ispanian instead, a language which she had only a rudimentary grasp of.

All three teachers left large packets for Luke to complete over the week, and each one of them left a second packet for her. Sirris smirked as she sat in Luke's room on the fourth day. Luke was at his desk with Guy, who was attempting to help the young noble with his homework.

Her work for the day was done, and there was no tutor today, as it had been a sword training day for Luke. In her lap were three completely blank packets. She had put them in a specific order, and was staring at Ancient Ispanian.

"Guy, would you please throw me a pen?" she asked the blonde. Guy looked over at her, confused. He grabbed a pen and walked over.

"What's this?" he asked. Sirris showed him the packets and he looked at her curiously. "You've got the same homework Luke's got, except for the Ancient Ispanian part. How come?"

"Ramdas ran out of things for me to do on day one, so he let me come in here and listen when Luke's mathematics tutor was here. I've been allowed to come back every day since at this time, since I'm still getting everything he comes up with done," she explained. She propped the packets up on her knees and started writing in the Ancient Ispanian one.

Guy walked back over to help Luke, but kept his eye on the child as often as he could. Luke, who had twice as much homework as Sirris and who had worked on it some already, was in a bad mood.

"Let's just focus on the stuff your history tutor left you right now, since you've got her tomorrow," Guy told him. Sirris's ears perked.

"History?" she asked. Guy nodded.

"Yeah. History on Undineday, science on Sylphday, Loreleiday is a free day, Gnomeday is math, Remday is geography, and Lunaday is language. Today, Ifritday, is for sword training," Guy explained. Sirris looked up at the ceiling.

'I've got the information I need,' she thought. 'I should do my job and leave… But I really want to meet the other two… No, three tutors. I want to meet Luke's sword instructor.'

Sirris turned her attention back to the Ancient Ispanian packet. It was all beginner stuff, so she went through it pretty quickly. Then came the mathematics packet, which was harder, but still easy enough to do. Guy and Luke seemed to forget about the child on the floor, and as the sun set, Sirris put the finished geography packet on top of the other two packets.

"I'd better go make sure that Ramdas didn't dig up something else for me to do. I'll see you tomorrow, Luke, Guy!" she said as she walked out the door. Guy shouted 'see you' after her as she went, but she didn't hear.

'I can't stay. I'm pushing it as it is,' she argued with herself. 'Master will kill me if I stay here any longer. He'll tie to the wall and pull out that nasty whip of his and—'

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Sirris cried as she was falling to the ground. Her papers flew out of her hands and she crumpled a few as she landed on them. She looked up at the man she had collided with, and found him laughing lightly.

"No, I'm sorry. I was lost in my own thoughts," he told her as he knelt to help her pick up her papers, which, since they had no real binding, had flown everywhere.

"As was I. Aw, man. It'll take a while to put all of these back in order," she grumbled as she stalked around picking up the white pages. The man stopped and actually examined one of them.

"Ah, you must be Soren," he said. Sirris looked back at him confused.

"Um…" she stated. "Yes… That's my name… And you are?"

"Van Grants. I'm Luke's sword instructor. I must say, I half expected you to show up today, and I was a little disappointed when you didn't," he told her. Sirris laughed nervously.

"Yeah, I was working. I'd have been there if I'd had a choice though," she replied.

"Ramdas and the other tutors tell me that you're an extremely talented young man. And looking over this geometry, I'd say that they weren't over-exaggerating," he said, handing her his pile of papers. Sirris smiled slightly.

"Thank you, sir," she said, bowing her head.

"Take care, Soren. I hope I get the chance to see your talent with a sword as well," he said as he walked away. Sirris sighed.

"I wish I had the time to show you," she whispered, looking down at the papers in her arms. "I wish I had the time to show all of you."

In her room, Sirris sat the papers on her bed and let her eyes shift again. Then she left and headed towards the entrance hall to find Ramdas. He was there, speaking to Duke Fabre and Lady Susanne.

"His tutors tell me that he seems to be devoting more of his attention to his studies with Soren around. They believe that having someone else learning the material as well is boosting his confidence. Whatever the case may be, I'd like that boy to continue going to Luke's classes," Duke Fabre was saying.

"Excuse me?" Sirris said quietly. The three adults turned their attention to her, and Susanne smiled.

"Hello, Soren. Have you been enjoying the lessons?" she asked. Sirris nodded.

"Yes, ma'am, I have," she replied. "Ramdas, do you have anything else you need me to do before I go to bed?"

"No, not today. Thank you for asking, however," he told her. Sirris nodded.

"Very well. Duke, Milady; by your leave," she said, leaving quietly.

"What a polite young man," she heard Susanne say fondly as she closed the door behind her.

'If only they knew,' Sirris thought to herself. 'If only they knew.'

That night, as the drowsy guard was waiting impatiently for their shift to be over, a silent shadow slipped across the grass to the tree behind Luke's room. After pausing at the base of the tree to survey the area, the small form slipped up the tree and into the room through the window.

Sirris smirked at the form of the sleeping noble. "Time to finish this mission and get out of here," she whispered to herself. A soft, metallic hiss echoed through the room as she drew the blade that was, once again, at her waist. The blue blade glinted with red fire despite the utter lack of light. The moon was shrouded behind clouds.

Gold and silver eyes shone evilly in the dark room as Sirris carefully adjusted Luke's hair. Gently, oh so gently, she placed the blade against the boy's neck and drew a tiny line, then made three more to form a triangle with the point pointing down. There was a line through it. Carefully, she drew a circle outside the triangle, encasing it.

Smirking, the crimson-haired assassin slipped back out of the window and crept across the courtyard to climb the wall. The flag in the opposite corner was waved, and the guard left his post. Sirris quickly and quietly got up onto the roof, ran across, and jumped down to land silently outside the manor.

Then she started running. The small pack on her back had only a few things in it. A water flask, what Gald she had earned at the manor, the clothes she had come in, and the second set of clothes that Guy had gotten her. However, she had left the homework on her perfectly-made bed after organizing it. She smirked again as she left Baticul and headed for the Inista Marsh. It was past midnight, and if she wasn't on the ferry to Daath in the morning, she'd never get away in time.

But the marsh proved to be no match against her and her knife. Sirris knew what she was doing, and she had no intention of slowing down. The behemoth posed a slight problem, but Sirris found that she could easily out-maneuver it, and did so.

The sky was just turning pink as the red-haired girl left the marsh. "I've only got an hour, but it's a straight shot from here to the port. Go, Sirris, go!" she shouted to herself, pushing her body harder despite the fact that she hadn't slept in twenty-four hours. "You can handle eighty-hour pulls, girl. Come on, you're getting soft," she taunted herself when she realized that her body wasn't responding as quickly as it normally would have.

"They pampered you too much at that manor," she grumbled under her breath as she arrived at the port. She ran straight to the docks, pleased to see that the ferry she needed to get on hadn't left yet. She paid her fare and got on, quickly secluding herself to her cabin. The trip from Belkend to Daath was just over a two-day one.

Sirris pulled the bag from her back and set it on the bed before moving to the center of the room. For the next few hours, she kept herself awake by practicing her martial arts. While she was much better at fighting with a weapon like a knife or sword, she could fight without them if she had to.

However, her practice was also meant to build her stamina back up from where it had slipped to in the short amount of time that she had been in the manor. But as noon slowly came around, Sirris found her body fighting her more than ever before, and finally resigned herself to searching for food. She found it in the ferry's mess hall, and bought bread and cheese before returning to her cabin to eat and train some more.

However, back in Baticul…

"How could this have happened?" Susanne asked her husband. Duke Fabre was just as shocked as his wife as he gazed down at the picture before him, which had been drawn by the healer who was currently tending to his son.

The evil sign sneered at the couple, both from the page in front of them, and from the neck of their ill son.

"I can't believe we fell for her tricks. An assassin, right here in the manor…" Duke Fabre muttered. "Nightshade…"

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><p><strong>Tony: If anyone is curious about the mark that Sirris left on Luke's skin, my good friend and beta, Kairi (Twilight PhoenixFyre) is going to put it up on her deviantART account. She's also in the process of drawing Sirris. And yes, the mark Sirris left is similar to the mark of the three brothers (Harry Potter) but it's not the same. The circle is on the outside, not the inside. (I swear the person who wrote that book stole that mark. I've been developing Sirris the Assassin for years now.)<strong>

**Leon: You're doing a Kairi…**

**Tony: Didn't I stick you back into the CCoD once already? Eh, whatever. Read and Review, please! I'd like to hear everyone's opinions of Sirris so far! And I'll see everyone next week… I hope…**


	2. Chapter II, Shadows

**Tony: Hello! I am back… A little later than I intended to be back… Anyways, I would like to mention a few things before I do the disclaimer and reviewer responses. First of all, I will not be updating Bloody Nightshade weekly, as I had hoped. Despite the fact that, at this point, it is the only story that I have to work on, I have a lot of school work right now, and I'm afraid that I'm having difficulties making ends meet. Second, Gifted is on hiatus until Kairi gets her laptop back, since I really don't want to mess up whatever she had in mind for Ashelia meeting up with Luke and the others… Third… This chapter is short and relatively crappy. However, it is a chapter, so I don't want to hear too many complaints.**

**Reviewer responses: (Okay, more appropriately titled 'response' but oh well. This is only the second chapter.) DAve and Bob: Thanks for reviewing! Really, with the commas? I do…? Hmm… When Kairi gets back, I'll have to ask her about that.**

**Disclaimer: _I, Marluxia of Avalon, do not own Tales of the Abyss. Sirris, however, is mine, and any made-up artes are either mine or Kairi's (Twilight PhoenixFyre)._**

**Tony: Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Not a lot happens… But I hope you enjoy it anyways.**

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><p><strong>Bloody Nightshade<strong>

**Chapter II**

**Shadows**

Sirris left the ferry from Belkend and immediately started looking for another ferry to Keterburg. Luckily, she found one that would leave only a few hours later. So, after stocking up on gels, she headed to the nearby Aramis Springs. The monsters there were stronger than the ones along the route to Daath, and they were more concentrated.

A little while later, after killing a large number of the monsters, Sirris left the Springs. She was headed back to the port to board the ferry when she saw him walking along. The red hair was the first thing that set her mind reeling. Then he saw her, but his emerald-green eyes showed no sign of recognition.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing out here?" he called. Sirris carefully walked forward, keeping her eyes in the shadows of her bangs.

"I'm heading to the port. Why? Does it matter?" she replied. The redhead, who was identical to the young man she had just tried to kill, shrugged.

"Not really. I'm headed that ways; why don't you come with me?" he answered. Sirris mimicked his shrugging action.

"Doesn't matter to me. I'd better hurry though; I've got less than half an hour to get back before my ferry leaves," she told him. He nodded and started walking, and Sirris followed him.

"So, what's your name?" he asked as they entered the port. Sirris crossed her arms, but her lips remained sealed. "Mine's Asch."

"Sera," Sirris lied. "Now if you'll excuse me…" She walked away and boarded the ferry to Keterburg. Once she was in her cabin, she pulled out a notebook and started writing.

She hadn't originally intended to start keeping a journal, but somehow, a few years ago, it had happened. This was the fifth notebook she had written in, and even it was coming to the end of its days. Her journal entry with that day's date looked something like this:

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><p><em>Loreleiday, Rem-Decan 7, ND2018<em>

_Luke should be dead or dying by now, unless they've found the antidote. I've been using this poison for a while, so it's very possible that they have. But if that's the case, Master Roran will beat me for being incompetent. And then he'll just send me after him again once I've got a new poison…_

_Anyways, I'm on the ferry to Keterburg. I think I'm just barely going to make it in the time Master Roran gave me. I wish I could just run away…_

_I saw him today. The original Luke. I don't think he recognized me. Which was a good thing. I was surprised that no one at the manor recognized me. What idiots._

_I had better go train._

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><p>Sirris put the journal up and sighed. It would be another day before she would get off at Keterburg, so she headed up to the deck once the ferry had set sail. She knew these Katsbert ferries like the back of her hand, and knew that there was a large space at the back of the ship where she could practice. She also knew that most people preferred to remain in their cabins.<p>

So imagine her surprise when she reached her destination only to find someone else training. A cursory glance told her all that she needed to know; Asch the Bloody was onboard the ferry to Keterburg. Sirris slipped away quietly to find a mirror. Well, the shiny apparatus at the front of the ship wasn't a mirror, but it worked well enough.

Now armed with brown eyes, Sirris returned to the back of the ship. Asch had stopped for a moment to catch his breath, and noticed the red-haired girl standing over to the side.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her. Sirris shrugged.

"Standing," she answered honestly. Asch rolled his eyes.

"What are you doing on this ferry?" he rephrased his question. Sirris considered saying the exact same thing, but sighed and decided against agitating the redhead.

"Heading home," she told him. "Would you like a sparring partner?"

"I've got an extra practice sword in my pack, but do you even know how to use a sword? Or do you intend to fend me off with just a knife?" Asch replied.

Sirris smirked. "I could 'fend you off' with just my knife… But I don't feel like it. So I'll borrow your practice sword," she answered. Asch rolled his eyes, but handed over the sword. Sirris jumped away from him with it, carrying it with the ease and strength that had been drilled into her over the years.

Asch realized that the girl knew what she was doing and held his own practice sword with two hands. Then he ran at her. Sirris dodged the attack, but then rushed at Asch, aiming more to knock him off-balance than hit him.

Quickly the two began a frenzied game of circling, attacking, defending, and circling some more. Hours later, Asch collapsed on the deck with Sirris's sword at his neck. After managing to catch his breath, he started laughing. Sirris, too, had a smile on her face.

"You have got one hell of a stamina on you," Asch managed to say between pants and chuckles. "I don't think I've ever been beaten because I got too tired."

"I never have," Sirris told him, sinking to the ground and wrapping her arms around her legs.

"Were you trained from birth to wield a sword or something? You're a hell of a lot stronger than a normal ten-year-old," he asked. Sirris sighed.

"I'm thirteen, not ten. And yeah, I was trained from birth. First with martial arts, then with a knife, and then a sword. I prefer the knife though," she told him. Asch looked over at her.

"Um, that was meant as a joke," he said. "Were you… Were you really trained from birth?"

"Yes. My mother died in childbirth. My father… might as well be dead. I was raised by my uncle, but we live on the far side of Mt. Roneal. I had to learn to fight to survive," she answered. Asch looked up at the sky.

"Definitely sounds like a harder childhood than mine was," he muttered. Sirris stood and handed him his practice sword.

"Here. I'm going back to my cabin," she told him. Asch nodded.

"I hope I see you again, Sera," he replied. Sirris shrugged.

"I wouldn't, if I were you. You may not live the next time you see me," she told him, being entirely honest. She didn't turn around to see if Asch believed her or not. She knew that she was running out of time before…

There, in the shiny silver, she saw her eyes shift back. Sirris nodded to herself and proceeded to her cabin, opening her journal again.

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><p>…<em>Later…<em>

_Asch is here, on the ferry to Keterburg. He really doesn't recognize me… I even told him a bit of the truth… Oh well. It has been nine years, after all. I'm not all that surprised that he's forgotten, it's just that it feels… I don't like it._

_I wonder if the replica will live…? I hope he doesn't. He might not have had a say in it, but he's the one who took Asch's place._

_I need to stop thinking about these things. We'll be arriving in Keterburg tomorrow afternoon, and I'm due home by noon the day after. Which means that once I get off the ferry, I'll have to run like hell to get back in time. I'll have to go through the night. Alas, I can't be late._

_I wonder if joining the Oracle Knights would help? Asch joined them when… No, Master Roran would still come after me. I can't get away from him!_

_I should be practicing my martial arts, not sitting and writing._

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><p>Sirris sighed as she put the notebook away again and stood up. Night would be falling soon, and she didn't intend to waste any of that daylight.<p>

The next morning, Sirris woke before the sun and ate quietly before she continued to train. Her body, though young, was fast, agile, strong, and extremely durable. But then, she had been trained for that.

As the sun rose in the sky, Sirris contemplated looking for Asch, but decided against it. She had interacted enough with him recently, and didn't need to risk his life any more than that. When the ferry hit land, the first thing off of it was a red blur.

Sirris was running. After she had gotten off the ferry, she had started running, all the way to the actual city of Keterburg, through it, and beyond. Her small body pushed through the snow and ice easily from years of experience with it. The monsters stayed away from her, fearful of her poisoned blade. She would have no problems arriving home in time, she knew.

She was halfway up Mt. Roneal when the first problem presented itself. The path she usually took had been blocked by snow, likely the result of an avalanche. Examining the situation, Sirris scowled and set off in another direction. The way she had to go now was a rather long was around to it, but it would work.

Finally, as the dark cave that marked to entrance to her master's home came into sight, Sirris allowed herself a moment to stop running. The sun was well on its way to setting, so after taking only a few seconds to catch her breath, she ran into the cave. There was a wooden door further in, and she opened it quickly, only to run into someone and fall backwards.

"You're late," a middle-aged man with black hair informed her. Sirris moved from her position on her butt onto her knees.

"I'm sorry, the ferries only move so fast," she apologized. This didn't stop the man from kicking her head.

"I don't care what your excuse is, bitch! But I know that you have no excuse for your poison," he snapped at her. Sirris bit her lip carefully. "They've found an antidote! What the hell did I tell you about that?"

"Don't use a poison long enough that the healers could discover an antidote," Sirris recited quietly. It only earned her another kick to the head.

"Get in you room and stay there until I tell you to leave!" Roran yelled at her. Sirris scrambled to get to her room.

Like the rest of the house, one wall was formed by the rock of the cave, and other three walls were man-made. Sirris sat in the corner farthest from the door, on her bed. Well, calling it a bed was generous, really. It was a mattress. One pillow and one blanket sat with her on top of the mattress.

Aside from the two wooden boxes that held her clothes and a third box, which held her herbs and poisons, there was nothing else in the room. Sirris, after hugging her back pack for a while, set it down on the bed and moved to the middle of the room to practice her martial arts a little more. She hadn't been practicing long when Roran opened the door.

"Good to see that you're smart enough to do something productive even when I'm not looking," he sneered. Sirris didn't reply. "Luke fon Fabre will live because of your inability to think. However, we won't be bothering with him again for a while. You have four days to get yourself ready for another mission. When you return from this one, we will be spending time training."

"Yes, Master," Sirris said quickly. Roran smirked and left. Sirris didn't say anything more, but she thought quietly to herself that at least he hadn't hit or kicked her again.

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><p><strong>(Five weeks later…)<strong>

"Jade, you wouldn't happen to have an extra Apple Gel, would you?" Tear asked from behind the bushes nearby. Jade, Luke, Guy, and Ion, curious, walked over to find her crouched over a young girl's body. Blonde hair fell into the girl's eyes. A brown dress with a hood covered her upper body, ending just above her knees. Loose gray pants covered black boots underneath.

However, it was obvious that the girl was injured. Jade sighed as he handed over a Gel. "Did you exhaust your strength?" he asked. Tear shook her head though.

"No. I wanted to save it for the three of you," she explained.

Luke, who was leaning over Tear's shoulder, examined the girl closely. "Hey, Guy. Does she look familiar to you?" he asked. Guy looked at the girl for a moment, but shook his head.

"Nope. Why?" he replied. Luke shrugged.

"I don't know. It just feels as though I've seen her before," he said. Jade sighed and adjusted his glasses.

"Well, what are we going to do with her?" he asked. Ion turned to look at him.

"It's obvious, isn't it? We can't leave her here, so our only other option is to take her with us," he answered. Jade sighed again.

"True, but she's unconscious. Which means that someone will have to carry her, and Guy's phobia and your health position render the two of you unable to do that. And frankly, I'd rather have Tear's arms empty," he told them. Luke stepped over to the girl.

"I'll carry her then," he volunteered. "We're not that far from St. Binah anyways." He picked the girl up carefully. "And I am not going to be the next person cooking."

"Where did that come from?" Guy asked with a raised eyebrow. Luke looked at the girl in his arms in concern.

"I'd like her to at least eat whatever dinner is. If I cook, we all know she'll barely touch it," he replied. Jade noted the genuine concern in his voice as he spoke.

"She's extremely underweight, isn't she?" he asked. Luke nodded. Jade adjusted his glasses. "Well, we've wasted enough time here. Let's get moving before—"

"There they are!"

"Dammit!" Luke cried as the group of Oracle Knights came around the bend. He set the girl down carefully and drew his sword.

"Luke, stay back! You know you won't be able to kill them!" Tear cried. Regardless of this, he ran at the oncoming soldiers. Guy managed to kill one before he noticed a third figure in the fighting.

"Reaper's Toll!" the little girl cried, killing one of the soldiers. Another one attacked her and she dispatched of him in a similar way. Guy was impressed that the child's martial arts skills seemed to be extremely sharp.

She ran over to where Luke was fighting the last of the soldiers. The Oracle Knight swung his sword, and Luke's went flying.

"Luke, snap out of it!" Guy yelled as the soldier readied his sword for an attack. Tear cried out Luke's name as she started running towards him, but the girl beat her to it.

"Reaper's Toll!" she cried, not only killing the soldier but likely saving the redhead's life. "And that's that," she added, brushing her hands off.

"I must say, your martial arts are impressive for one so young," Jade commented as he walked over. The girl turned and examined him with startlingly violet eyes.

"Thanks," she finally replied. "I'm Aerys."

"I'm Luke," Luke said quietly. "Um… Thanks." Aerys looked at him in confusion.

"What are you thanking me for? Oh, that Oracle Knight?" she asked. Luke nodded. She shrugged. "Ah, well. So, who are you four?" she asked the others. Guy smiled.

"My name's Guy," he informed her.

"I'm Tear," Tear added. Jade held out a hand, though he didn't really expect the girl to shake it.

"Colonel Jade Curtiss," he said simply. Aerys shook his hand and smiled.

"Nice to meet you," she replied. Ion stepped over to shake her hand as well, despite the fact that the girl was shorter than he was.

"I'm Ion," he said. Aerys nodded.

"Nice to meet you too," she said. "So, where are we headed? Or rather, where were you headed?"

"We on our way to St. Binah," Jade told her. "Might I ask why you were lying injured on the side of the road?"

Aerys bit her lip. "I kind of made the mistake of taking on too many monsters at once. I managed to kill them all, but they nearly killed me," she replied. "Anyways, I'm headed for St. Binah as well. Actually, I'm going to Kaitzur, but I planned on stopping in St. Binah."

"We'll be heading towards Kaitzur as well, after St. Binah. You're welcome to join us," Jade told her. Aerys nodded.

"I think I'll do that," she replied. Two hours later, the group of six crouched outside of St. Binah.

"Dammit! The Oracle Knights beat us here," Luke cursed. Aerys raised an eyebrow.

"Did something happen between you guys and the Oracle Knights that I don't know about?" she asked. Jade sighed as he adjusted his glasses again.

"Yes, unfortunately. We don't have the time to explain right now, though," he told her. Then, a wagon pulled up to St. Binah's gates.

"We're here to fulfill a purchase of food supplies," the man driving the wagon told the nearby soldier.

"You may pass," the soldier informed him.

"Oh! There's one more wagon after this one," the man added before he rode into the town. Aerys turned to the others.

"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked.

"Let me guess; we're going to hitch a ride on the second wagon?" Luke asked. Nods moved around the group. "Let's get going then."

"Yes. If we go back along the road to Engeve a ways, we should be able to stop them," Aerys added. So that was exactly what they did. They saw the wagon, and Luke ran out in front to get it to stop. Jade spoke to the woman driving the wagon, and the six of them piled into the back.

Once they were inside the gates, they left the wagon. Aerys turned to the others. "I'm not sure what business you all have to do here, but I've got something I've got to do. I'll meet up with you guys at the inn later," she told them. After Jade and Tear had nodded their consent, Aerys walked away. She slipped into a store quietly.

"Ah, hello, miss. What can I do for you?" an elderly man behind the counter asked. Aerys handed him a letter. "What's this?" he asked curiously. As he read the letter, the curiosity faded to fear, and he looked up at the girl, who had undergone a dramatic change.

The blonde wig in her left hand did little to take his attention away from the crimson hair that hung in front of gold and silver eyes.

"Now, I believe Roran gave you very specific instructions," Sirris said quietly.

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><p><strong>Tony: I apologize for the shortness. The next chapter will be longer… I hope. And if Asch seems a little OOC, I apologize... But it will be explained later. Although I think I made him more OOC than I wanted to... Anyway, I will see everyone in two weeks! And don't forget to hit the 'Review' button on your way out! I do have anonymous reviews open.<strong>


	3. Chapter III, Nightmare

**Tony: Hello, everyone! I'm back!... And my beta is angry at me for waking her at an ungodly hour just so she can read this and return it to me so I can post it today, like I said I would… Ahem, anyways!**

**Reviewer Responses:**

**DAve and Bob- Yes, I can understand where that's coming from. I had a little trouble writing that scene… Mostly because Asch is a God-General… But to look at this realistically (kind of, seeing as how it _is_ a game and we can't get all _that_ realistic with it), Sirris has been trained in such a matter that, one-on-one against Absorption Gate Van, she would win. (Mostly because of a combination of speed[dodging his attacks], poison[wearing him down], and stamina[outlasting him].) So, yeah… Quite obviously, this story is not meant to be based around her developing her fighting skills… At least not _that_ much.**

**(Eloriane)- Hello, anonymous reviewer! And the second person to work up the courage to review this story. Ahem, anyways… I don't think I mention it in this chapter… Oh well. Sirris is older than she tells people she is. You'll find out exactly when her birthday is next chapter (if you read it, when I get it up here). Unfortunately, I won't be giving you that information yet. But really, if you're that small, are you going to tell people your real age when it's so much easier to pretend to be younger? That letter will come up again in a later chapter, though… But until then, it isn't too important. Yes, assassins must lie to survive. Believe me, we learn a LOT about her next chapter, and a little in this chapter. You don't like Roran? I don't like Roran. We have something in common. (I don't think anyone likes or will like Roran, honestly.) Oh, does she really sound Mary-Sue? :( I didn't mean for that to happen…**

**Tony: Holy flip, those were two LONG responses… Ahem… I don't own Tales of the Abyss, but Sirris belongs to me. Now, go enjoy Chapter III! And also, before you run into this on me, I apologize for all the time-jumping and memory crap I did… However, it was necessary. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Bloody Nightshade<strong>

**Chapter III**

**Nightmare**

"_I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please let me stop!" the young girl cried as she ran. At the edge of her makeshift track, a tall man with black hair glared at her._

"_Why the hell would I let you stop, you ungrateful wretch!" he demanded. "But watch… You'll be thanking me for this later." He swung a stick he was holding to smack the backs of the girl's legs. She yelped, but managed to complete the last two laps quietly. Then she dropped to the floor for a set of push-ups. Once the push-ups were done, she did a set of sit-ups, then started running again._

"_Master… Why are you making me run?" the girl, just barely four years old, asked as she ran past the man again. He crossed his arms._

"_Because I don't need you to fail. Failure is useless, and is more unhelpful than beneficial," he told her. Then he smirked. "Besides, every drop of sweat in training is one less drop of blood in battle." The girl swallowed what little saliva she could and finished another ten laps before hitting the ground again for more push-ups and sit-ups._

_Nearly an hour later, the girl collapsed halfway through the laps, and the man shook his head in annoyance. "How the hell are you supposed to outlast anything if you can't even do this circuit for more than four hours?" he asked the girl angrily. She mumbled something unintelligible, and the man rolled his eyes._

"_Fine, fine. But you're running this circuit again tomorrow. Until you can run for twenty-four hours straight without stopping, you're not getting any rest from it," he informed her, picking up the barely responsive pile that was the girl._

_The track was underground, as was the man's home. So, after walking a short ways, he deposited the girl on a mattress in what could be called a room. Aside from a box to hold her clothes, there was nothing else there._

_The girl curled up on her mattress, praying to every deity she knew that the torture would not happen again the next day, though she knew that it would._

_The next morning, the man was just as quick to pull the girl from sleep as he had been the day before. She got to eat her breakfast and he made her study her letters some more, insisting that her writing had to be perfect. When noon came around, she ate her lunch quietly._

_Then came the training. The man grabbed her arm and drug her to the track, sitting back down where he usually did. "Now get going, bitch!" he yelled at her. The girl sighed and started running, knowing that arguing was no use._

_Nearly four hours later, the girl looked ready to collapse again. But, surprising the man who had just pushed his hair out of his face, she forced herself to keep going a little longer, and made it through the last three laps. Then, dropping to the ground, she started in on the push-ups…_

_And fell to the ground halfway through. The man rolled his eyes and walked over to the girl._

"_Good-for-nothing, worthless, ungrateful wretch!" he yelled, accenting nearly every word with a kick. The girl cried out in pain, curling up into a ball carefully._

"_Stop! Stop please! Master, stop!"_

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><p>"Aerys? Aerys, wake up! Aerys?" a quiet but firm voice roused Sirris from the nightmares that were her memories. Sirris sat up and found herself to be breathing hard. Quickly, she closed her eyes before the Fon Master could see them and willed them to change. Opening her eyes, she bit her lip.<p>

Carefully, she checked to make sure that her blonde wig was still in place. It was, and she closed her eyes again and calmed her breathing. Then she looked up at the boy who had woken her.

"I'm sorry… What time is it?" Sirris asked in the lighter voice that she had given to Aerys. Ion smiled.

"It's not quite six… but I thought that you'd like to wake up from the nightmare you seemed to be having," he told her. Sirris nodded.

"Yeah…" she said quietly. Then she looked over at the colonel sitting on another bed. "I apologize if I woke you two." The colonel shook his head.

"Don't concern yourself with it. I was awake already, and Ion said that he hadn't been planning on sleeping much later than this anyway," he replied. Sirris pulled her legs up to her chest.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to wake anyone… I didn't want to remember anyway…" she started muttering, acting more like Sirris than Aerys.

"Aerys, might I ask what your nightmare was about?" Ion asked her. Sirris swallowed and looked up.

"It was a memory, not a nightmare… My memory of when my family died…" she lied. Ion sat down on the bed with her.

"I don't want you to think that I'm prying, but… can you tell me what happened?" he asked. Sirris took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yeah, but… could I go wash up first?" she replied. Ion smiled and nodded.

"Take your time. You look like you need some time to relax," he told her. Sirris nearly rolled her eyes.

"Maybe if I weren't on a time limit," she muttered under her breath. She stepped into the bathroom and removed the wig carefully after locking both doors. Then she brushed out her hair and put it back up.

After carefully brushing the blonde wig, she put it back over her hair and used the pins that already peppered her head to hold it in place. After deciding that it was enough, she walked back out of the bathroom, but not after taking the time to check and make sure her eyes were the proper color of violet, which they were, thankfully for her.

"I thought I heard someone screaming, so I came over here to make sure everyone's alright. Guy and Tear are still asleep," Luke told Jade and Ion as Sirris stepped out of the bathroom.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to wake you," Sirris said. Luke looked over at the girl. "One of my memories resurfaced as a nightmare… again."

"Again? This happens often?" Ion asked. Sirris shook her head though.

"Not exactly 'often.' It's a common enough occurrence that it'll probably happen again before we reach Kaitzur, but not common enough that it'll happen more than once in that same time frame," she told him.

"It must have been a pretty bad memory if you started screaming like that," Luke said, more compassion in his voice than Jade thought he had ever heard.

"Yes… The memory was from when my family died…" she muttered. Then she closed her eyes, concocting a story quickly.

"Aerys, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to," Ion told her. But Sirris shook her head.

"It's fine," she lied. "It's just… I wasn't quite four when it happened… My parents and I were part of a caravan traveling through the desert. I wasn't the only child in the group, but aside from my baby brother, I was the youngest. Despite that, I ran off with the other children when we stopped at the oasis."

"The caravan had stopped just outside… I was playing around on the other side when I saw the smoke. I ran back to the caravan, but it was too late. Bandits had destroyed it all… And my parents and brother were caught inside their wagon," Sirris told her lie. "And then the bandits attacked me…"

"D-don't tell me you were forced to kill that young!" Luke stuttered. Sirris pulled her legs close to her chest.

"Unfortunately, I did have to kill. It's the only reason I'm still alive," she explained. "The bandits were sloppy, and papa had already started training me in martial arts, though mother wasn't too happy about it."

"Yes, I heard about the attack near the oasis seven years ago. Supposedly, no one from the caravan had survived, with the exceptions of the few children with the caravan. I never thought I'd meet someone who survived that event," Jade said. "You said you were almost four at the time? That would make you eleven now, wouldn't it?"

Sirris nodded. "Yeah… So, when are we going to get going?" she replied. Jade walked over to the door.

"I'll go make sure that Tear and Guy are awake. If the majority of us are awake, we might as well leave," he said. Sirris got off the bed again and pulled her boots on, carefully checking to make sure that her knife was still there. Then Jade returned with Tear and Guy. "Let's go."

She followed Ion out of the room. The Oracle Knights had left overnight, so they headed out of the gates and started along the road south.

Jade didn't want to exhaust Ion, so they didn't run. Any monsters they fought were easily defeated, mostly because 'Aerys' seemed to be a far more experienced fighter (and she wasn't fighting with a fon slot seal on her body, though she had done that before).

They were only a day along their way to the bridge to Akzeriuth when the merchant passed them, carrying news with him. After he departed, the group stopped to make a new plan.

"With the bridge out, we'll have to cross the Fubras River on foot," Sirris said. Jade nodded.

"I'm afraid so. But that also means that we'll have to find a good place to cross, which could waste time," he added. Tear sighed.

"We have to get to Kimlasca," she said simply. "It may take longer, but it's the only choice we have at this point." There was some silence before Jade looked at 'Aerys.'

"You look like you might have an idea," he said. Sirris nodded.

"Yeah… See, I don't like traveling by road, especially when I'm alone. Bandits watch the roads," she told them. "So I never cross the Fubras using the bridge… unless the water's too high at the other good spot."

"Other good spot?" Tear wondered. Sirris nodded.

"There's a really good place to cross, and if I remember correctly, it's actually closer to our current location than the bridge is," she explained. Jade looked upwards for a moment.

"Why don't we get going, then? We've still got some daylight," he suggested. He looked at Sirris, who understood that he wanted her to lead, since she apparently knew the way. And so she did lead them.

That night, they set up the camp quickly. Sirris was punching and kicking the air in a fast and deadly dance, but stopped as she listened to Luke and Tear arguing.

"Why me?" Luke whined. Tear placed her hands on her hips.

"It's your turn, so just get cooking already," she told him. Luke seemed extremely upset, and as Sirris watched, she thought that she understood.

"Hey, are there any large rocks around here?" she asked him as he was pulling out the ingredients for some kind of pasta. Luke looked around.

"It depends… What are you referring to when you say 'large?'" he replied. Sirris smiled.

"A little bigger than fist size. Any bigger than that classifies as a small boulder," she told him. Luke sighed and stood up, walking over towards a tree to pick up a rock, then wandered around to find some more. He returned to Sirris with five of them, and the girl arranged them in a shape reminiscent of a circle before fighting with the fire a little.

"Hmm… A rather effective stove of sorts," Jade commented as he realize what the girl was doing. She smiled.

"Yup," she said. Then she turned to Luke, who had found a stream nearby and filled the pot three-fourths of the way and was returning. "Here, put that on the rocks," she told him. He did as he was told, then looked over the ingredients that he had pulled out.

"You guys don't have any spices or herbs or anything, do you?" Sirris asked. Jade sighed.

"I'm afraid that we don't have a lot of money. We can't afford to use that money on herbs," he explained. Sirris shrugged and pulled a few things out of her own bag.

"I've got some stuff. I never go anywhere without a few spices," she told them. "So, what's for dinner?" she asked. Luke grimaced.

"Spaghetti…" he grumbled. Sirris looked through her herbs and what the group had, as well as her own ingredients.

"Hmm… These two… Pull out one of these… Note to self: restock on food when we get to Kaitzur," she mumbled. "Luke, keep that cheese out, and the tomato… Where'd you pick that up anyways?"

"Um… A monster?" he replied carefully. Sirris rolled her eyes.

"Gimme that," she grumbled, grabbing the tomato in question. "And put the pasta in when the water starts boiling!" she called back for good measure. Luke rolled his eyes.

"I figured that part out," he muttered. Jade smiled good-naturedly.

"I give her credit for being patient enough to help you out… Well, we'll see if she actually hangs in there later," he said. Guy walked over.

"I thought we all agreed that it only takes one to cook a meal," he asked somewhat curiously. Jade shrugged.

"Apparently Aerys has decided to attempt to help teach our friend to actually cook," the colonel informed him. Luke was rolling his eyes when the girl in question returned with a cleaned tomato.

"Is that water boiling yet?" she asked. As if on cue, the nearly-still water started bubbling and thrashing around in the pot.

"Talk about timing," Guy muttered. Sirris sighed.

"Well, it's not the first time something like that has happened," she told them. Luke pulled out the pasta. Sirris examined the spaghetti noodles and sighed. "You don't have to, but it's usually less of a hassle when eating if the noodles aren't that long," she said. Luke scowled and put half of the noodles down before breaking the bunch he still had in half. Then he did the same with the other half.

Sirris pulled a pasta fork out of her own bag and handed it to him. "What's that?" Luke asked her.

"A pasta fork. It's specially designed for pasta… And since the noodles have to be stirred from time to time to keep them from sticking together, it's a pretty handy tool," she explained. Luke examined the cooking tool for a moment before putting it in the water and stirring the pasta.

Jade walked away as Luke and Sirris cooked, and Guy wandered off to the side to fiddle around with a piece of fontech. Sirris looked around at everyone else. Ion and Tear seemed to be talking to Mieu.

"It had to have been nearly impossible," Luke whispered. Sirris turned to him in shock.

"What do you mean?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"Killing when you were only four," he added, closing his eyes. Sirris sighed.

"I've killed a lot of people. It did bother me at first… But it isn't the people I've killed that come back to haunt me… It's my family," she lied. "By the way, the pasta could use another stir."

"So when do we put the other stuff in?" he asked, understanding that she wanted to change the subject. Sirris smiled.

"We don't put it in until after we drain the pasta. And we don't drain the pasta until it's cooked. You probably don't know what to look for in cooked pasta though, do you?" she asked. Luke gave her a blank stare and she held out her hand. Since he wasn't holding anything else, the redhead gave her the pasta fork.

Sirris stirred the pasta again and used the fork to lift some just out of the water, and smiled. She handed the fork to Luke again. "Here. Stir the pasta a little and lift some of it just out of the water, like I did." Luke did as he was told. "Feel the difference between now and how it felt earlier?" Luke played around with the pasta for a moment more before nodding.

"Yeah… Huh," he replied. Sirris chuckled.

"Well, now we have to drain it. Here, use these so you don't burn yourself," she said, handing Luke a couple of potholders that appeared to be handmade. They carefully dumped the water beyond the camp's edge, then returned to the fire. Sirris grabbed the tomatoes and proceeded to show Luke how to cut them.

Once the tomatoes were in, Sirris grabbed the herbs she had pulled out. "Use your thumb and index and middle fingers to pinch some of it and… Yep, just like that…" she said, watching as Luke sprinkled the ground leaves in the pot. "Hmm… Put just a bit more in… Yeah, no more than that."

"And then do the same with the other one?" he asked. Sirris nodded and handed Luke the other jar.

"That's good," she told him. Luke put the cap back onto the jar and handed it to the girl, who put both jars back into her bag.

Luke stirred the herbs and tomatoes into the pasta as Sirris added the cheese and a little milk. Luke looked over it carefully, and then turned to look at Sirris.

"Thanks," he said quietly. Sirris smiled back.

"Just try to keep what I told you in mind," she told him. Luke nodded.

"Yeah. I was paying attention when you put the milk and cheese in too," he replied. "So, does this mean that dinner's done?" he added. Sirris laughed a little.

"Yup. Go ahead and get yours. I'll call the herd," she told him. Luke raised an eyebrow at her wording, but pulled out the bowls anyway and scooped up some of the pasta for himself. "Dinner's ready!" Sirris called, knowing that Jade was a ways away.

Tear and Ion walked over as she grabbed a bowl for herself, and Guy simply continued fiddling with his device. Sirris picked Luke's bowl up and set it to the side where it would be safe, then told Luke to remove the pot from the fire. The redhead did so quickly and quietly, then sat to the side to eat.

Jade came back only moments later to get his own food, and Guy put his things away not long after so that he could eat too. Sirris spent the majority of the time they were eating talking about cooking with Luke, who seemed quite interested now. Then Guy took the now-empty pot and the bowls and utensils to the stream to clean them.

"It should only take us about a week to get to the Fubras River. It'll take at least a day to get across, though it's more likely to be a day and a half, barring any unexpected problems. But from the other side, it's just a four-day jump to Kaitzur," Sirris explained. "We'll be leaving the road about midday tomorrow."

"In other words, it should only take us a couple of weeks," Luke said. Sirris nodded.

"Mind you, that's if the weather's good, and we don't run into too many monsters or bandits, or anything else," she told him. Luke scowled.

"Way to be pessimistic," he muttered. Sirris laughed.

"Well, if you'll excuse me now, I'd like to get some sleep," she told them, moving a little away from the fire to lay down. Luke yawned and followed her example, and before much longer, Tear, Ion, Guy, and Mieu were asleep as well.

* * *

><p>Sixteen days later, after a long and difficult trek to the Fubras River, an encounter with Arietta and the miasma, and a shorter but still exhausting trip from the Fubras, Luke and his friends arrived in Kaitzur, with 'Aerys' still in tow. The girl broke off from them almost immediately and headed to the inn, which also doubled as the item shop.<p>

Sirris smirked, knowing that she had very little time to do what she needed to before Luke and the others came looking for her. She had told them that she was actually headed for Chesedonia, so they were all going to leave for the port together. She walked up to the man working the counter at the inn.

"Excuse me? I'm looking for a Mr. Nelenor," she informed him. The man looked over the list of people who had rooms booked at the inn.

"There's a Nelenor here. Room 116," he said. Sirris smiled.

"Thanks!" she said happily before running off to find the room while pulling the wig off. She entered the room without knocking to find three white-haired individuals inside. One was female, and the other two were male. "Which one of you is Danté Nelenor?" Sirris asked. The girl and the younger of the males left, leaving Sirris with a young man.

"I take it you're the one called 'Sirris?'" the man asked. Sirris nodded. Danté pulled a package out of his pack and handed it to her. She took it and opened it carefully, then placed the contents into her own pack.

"Thanks," she said quietly. "I'll be going now."

"Take care of yourself," he called after her. Once outside the room, she replaced the wig and headed back outside just in time to run into someone.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" she said quickly, looking up to see someone she hadn't expected to see again. Van looked down at her and held out a hand.

"Oh, Aerys!" Luke called, running over. "This is my sword instructor!" he announced. Sirris smiled, though she already knew that fact.

"It's nice to meet you," she said amiably. Van nodded.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Aerys. My name is Van," he replied. Then he entered the inn.

"So, what happened?" Sirris asked. Jade adjusted his glasses.

"Huh? Who the heck are you?" a young girl Sirris hadn't noticed asked. Sirris looked over at her.

"My name is Aerys. What's yours?" she asked.

"Ionian Sergeant Anise Tatlin, Fon Master Guardian!" she announced. Sirris very nearly rolled her eyes. "Hey, what's a little girl like you doing here anyways?"

"Surviving," Sirris answered rather honestly.

"Ahem. To answer your previous question, Aerys, Asch attacked and Van intervened," Jade said. Sirris stared at him blankly.

'Asch was here?' she found herself thinking.

"We're going to talk to my brother now," Tear said. Sirris's blank stare was redirected to her.

"Brother?" she asked.

"Van," Tear said simply. Sirris thought about it and shrugged.

"Okay. Well, he's in the inn, so let's head inside," she suggested. So they headed into the inn, where Van was waiting for them. Sirris knew that she should probably listen to them talking, but couldn't focus. Finally, after Van left, Luke walked over to her.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked. Sirris turned to him and smiled.

"It's fine. Anyways, are we going to head to the port today or tomorrow?" she asked. Jade sighed.

"We'll stay here for tonight," he said. "We could use the rest."

* * *

><p>"<em>I really can't believe this," Roran muttered as he looked over the whimpering mess that was a five-year-old Sirris. The girl's hair, once a pure honey-brown, was growing out red now, resulting in crimson streaks through the golden-brown. "You actually thought that you could run away and hide. What an ungrateful bitch you are."<em>

_Sirris sniffed, trying to stop from crying, but her tears wouldn't stop. Roran kicked her again, this time in the head, and then left her room._

_The next morning, she was rudely pulled from her bed despite the bruises covering her body. As she stumbled into the underground training area, she groaned. Roran had set up another obstacle course for her, and it looked to be an extremely difficult one, which would be made even more difficult by the bruises on her arms and legs._

"_Get going, wretch!" Roran yelled, pushing her. All of the training she had been put through already in her short life kicked in, and though she was slightly out of shape since she had spent the last four months at a manor, she still managed to get through the first few parts of the obstacle course without too much trouble._

_As the hours went on and she ran the obstacle course over and over again, her strength and stamina returned full force. Roran smirked from where he watched. Finally, Roran stepped out of the shadows._

"_Go eat something, witch!" he yelled at the girl, who immediately ran from the area. Roran put all of the equipment away quickly before joining her, pleased to note that she had made more than enough for him too. After a quick meal, Roran took her back to the arena._

"_What now, Master?" Sirris asked quietly. Roran turned to face her._

"_Now, Sirris… Now you learn to fight," he said. And as Sirris looked up into his eyes, she realized that everything she had learned already had been leading up to this._

_Two years later, Sirris looked up at Roran, shifting the wooden practice sword in her hand before charging at him. Roran was no push-over though, and left her with more bruises than she could count. It was late, but as she started to leave, Roran attacked her again._

"_Where do you think you're going, bitch? You're staying right here until I say you can go!" he yelled, swinging his sword at her head. Sirris only half-blocked the attack. But as her strength failed her seven-year-old body, Roran started kicking her again._

"_Please, stop!" she begged, knowing that it would do no good. Roran smirked._

"_I'll stop when I'm finished."_

* * *

><p><strong>(Guy's POV)<strong>

I woke up to screams.

Once they registered in my mind, I sat up. Jade and Ion, it seemed, had been awoken as well.

Suddenly, and without any warning, the screams cut off, leaving only whimpering in their place. I looked around the camp. The screaming had been close, too close for comfort.

Luke was hugging a heavily breathing and terrified-looking Aerys. Her blonde hair was a mess, as usual when she woke up. I looked at the others again, and noticed that everyone had woken. Jade was standing over Luke and Aerys at that point, looking more concerned than I had ever seen him.

"I take it you had another nightmare," he said quietly. Aerys nodded and looked up at the rest of us. I stood and walked over to her.

"Yeah… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake everyone up again," she apologized.

"It's alright. It's almost morning, anyway," I told her. Aerys closed her eyes for a moment. "Well, since we're all awake, why don't we make breakfast and then get going?" I suggested. Tear nodded and walked over to the remains of the previous night's fire.

Meanwhile, Jade, Ion, and Luke stayed near Aerys. She seemed to appreciate the closeness. I smiled and pulled out a piece of fontech I had been working on. I figured that I wouldn't get much time to work, and I was right.

"Breakfast is ready," Tear announced. Anise moved over to join her first, followed closely by Ion, though that was mostly because the girl had grabbed Ion's hand. Aerys stood and pulled out a brush, carefully running it through her hair before joining the others at the fire. Luke, Jade, and I were the last three there.

I thought back over the last few days. After a night of rest in Kaitzur, we had gone to the port, only to find that Arietta had destroyed the ferry. We stayed at the port that night, but when we tried to return to Kaitzur the next morning, a couple of mechanics stopped us and asked us to help their chief, whom Arietta had kidnapped and taken to Choral Castle. So, here we were, halfway there, despite Van's requests for us not to go.

I sighed as I finished the eggs and sausage Tear had handed me. The others were finishing up as well, and Aerys was collecting the dirty dishes to wash them.

As the blonde girl walked past me, I caught myself staring at her. She seemed familiar, and my instincts were telling me that I shouldn't be trusting her. However, for some reason, I couldn't pinpoint the source of my discomfort.

We left almost as soon as Aerys returned with the cleaned dishes. Ion spent most of the morning talking to her. I couldn't help but smile at how well those two seemed to get along.

'Well, maybe I'm just being jittery,' I thought to myself, trying to calm down. 'She's just an ordinary little girl, after all.'

* * *

><p><strong>Tony: Well… Maybe not the best chapter ever… I'd feel better about it… If it weren't for the fact that my beta is still cursing at me for waking her up so early. In fact, her exact words were: "You're insane. Why the hell else would you be awake at fucking ONE-THIRTY in the morning typing this! It may be three-thirty where I am, but DAMMIT it's still way too early in the bloody morning!... You do realize that we both have school later this morning, correct?"<strong>

**Yeah, she's not to pleased… Although it's now closer to three-thirty where I am…**

**Anyway, do me a HUGE favor and hit that little review button down there on your way out. I realize that I'm not the greatest author in the world… But I need your opinions if I'm going to get any better. Please and thank you!**

**Oh, and before I run off on you guys… Feel free to check my profile if you want to know when I plan to update again, or some other thing. I've also got some story ideas up there, so if you want me to get to work on them, better say something.**


	4. Chapter IV, Illusions

**Tony: I apologize for the long wait! I didn't mean to take this long to get this chapter up, but my schoolwork overwhelmed me until two days after the day I said I would post, and then my computer crashed right after I finished typing this chapter up the first time. It's short and crappy, but I hope you all can live with that.**

**Reveiwer Responses: ****DAve and Bob**** – Thanks, and I will. ****(Eloriane)**** – Nice to see you again! I know that feeling. I'm glad you liked Guy's part. I don't like doing first person, and even less when it's not one of my characters, so that means a lot. Anyway, enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: **_**I, Tony (Marluxia of Avalon), do not own any part of Tales of the Abyss. All original characters, however, belong to me.**_

**Tony: Enjoy Chapter Four.**

**Edit: I came back through and rewrote a large section of this chapter. Actually, I added to the chapter, since my beta decided that what I had written would be okay if I simply added to it... Plus I skipped a part of this... I'll shut up and let everyone enjoy the fixed version.**

* * *

><p><strong>Bloody Nightshade<strong>

**Chapter IV**

**Illusions**

Sirris scowled at the poltergeist that had managed to sneak up on her. Even in her disguise as Aerys, she had remained extremely vigilant, and to see that carefully built barrier shattered… She sighed as she struck the killing blow. 'There's nothing wrong with appearing a little weak in front of these guys,' she decided. 'But, still, to think that it actually surprised me.'

"You aren't still beating yourself up over that last poltergeist, are you?" Tear asked. Sirris shrugged.

"I let my guard down, there's really no other way to say it," she said.

Guy sighed. "It wasn't your fault. Hell, half of those poltergeists would have snuck up on us if you hadn't seen them coming. You've helped us out a lot, Aerys," he told her. Sirris sighed.

"I know... But I'm not used to them sneaking up on me. I'm not gonna forget about it for a while," she replied. "By the way, Luke, you have about ten seconds to turn around before that bat hits you," she added. Luke turned around, just in time to raise his arms and protect himself from a direct attack.

"Thanks for the warning," he said quickly, launching himself into battle with one of the monsters that the bat had brought along. Sirris steeled herself and ran at a gremlin trio. A punch, a roundhouse kick, and a Demon Fist later, it was dead.

Looking around, she noted that all of the other monsters were either dead or being finished off. "Oh, come on. They could at least attempt to be a challenge," she grumbled. Guy scratched the back of his head.

"You really are bored, aren't you?" he asked rhetorically. Sirris smiled and nodded. "Well, come on. We've got to get to wherever Arietta has the engineer."

"Right. Let's go," Luke agreed. Anise looked back at Ion, then walked over to Luke once she was certain he was safe.

"Luke? Are you getting that weird feeling like something bad's gonna happen?" she asked. Luke looked down at her and shook his head.

"No... Well, not quite. I've got a weird feeling, but it's not a bad one... More like the feeling that I'm going to have to make a big decision soon," he replied. Jade, who had been watching Sirris most of the day, sighed.

"To be honest, even I've got a bad feeling about this," he said quietly.

Sirris rolled her eyes. "Come on. We won't get anywhere if we don't keep going," she said. The others nodded and followed Luke as he lead them further into the abandoned mansion. Sirris noted that Jade wasn't the only aside from Luke who looked uncomfortable. The entire party seemed to be on edge, which was making Sirris feel uncomfortable as well.

"Hey, does anyone else hear that?" Luke asked, stopping to listen to something. Everyone stopped, and sure enough, the sound of someone singing reached their ears. Anise glanced at Ion, confused.

"That's definitely a girl singing, but it couldn't be Arietta, could it?" she asked. Jade shook his head.

"No. It's too close. Arietta should be on the roof," he replied. "Why don't we go and investigate?" he suggested. Luke nodded and headed to his left, carefully following the sound of the girl's voice. As they passed a hallway, Sirris stopped to listen.

"Luke, it's this way," she called to the redhead that had gone past the hall. Luke looked back at her.

"Are you sure?" he asked. Sirris nodded and headed down the hallway, leading them straight to one of the rooftop areas. A girl stood in a corner and raised her hand as she finished her song. Then, after a pause, she began singing again.

Sirris was curious about this girl. Her curly silver hair was extremely long, falling nearly to her knees. Light violet streaks danced through the curls, and a blue ribbon held her hair in something reminiscent of a ponytail. She wore a lavender top with blue ribbons on it. A short silvery-gray skirt and white boots that reached only to her mid-calf completed her outfit. When her second song concluded and she turned and smiled at them, Sirris noted that her eyes were a light blue that matched the ribbons on her outfit perfectly.

"Hello," the girl said in a sing-song voice. "Who are you?"

"Shouldn't we be asking you that? And what are you doing here?" Luke replied. Sirris and Tear exchanged a look and sighed. But the girl laughed.

"I'm Amai Sakkaku. It's nice to meet you all," she said. "I'm afraid I'm lost though."

"I'm Luke," the redhead replied. Sirris stepped forward.

"Aerys," she said curtly. After everyone introduced themselves, Amai asked to join them.

"I won't get in the way, and I'm healer," she told them. Luke nodded.

"That's fine. We could use a second healer, anyway. Tear's the only healer to take care of all six of us that fight, and even Ion gets hurt sometimes, though we try to keep him safe," he said. Amai giggled.

"Okay. Let's go!" she replied. They followed Sirris back down the stairs, only to run into a poltergeist that seemed to be carrying a blue orb around in its mouth. Sirris, upon seeing the monster, glanced back, then charged at it. Luke followed her, and Guy and Anise headed for the bats that had followed the poltergeist into battle. After dispatching of the monsters, Sirris picked the orb up and examined it.

"Hey, didn't we see a poltergeist with a red orb earlier?" she asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Luke replied. Sirris smiled.

"The lock on the door to the basement is purple, and red and blue make purple," she said. Jade crossed his arms.

"Hmm… An interesting puzzle. But the poltergeist earlier ran away when we tried to attack it," he said. Sirris looked down at Mieu.

"That's where you come in," she told the cheagle. Mieu looked up at her curiously. "Come on, Mieu. I've got a plan." She scooped the little furball up and took off towards the main hall, where they had seen the poltergeist in question floating around earlier. When they arrived, Sirris turned to the rest of them. "Ready?" she asked. Then, carefully stepping out of the hallway, she took aim.

"Fire, Mieu," she ordered. The fireball hit the poltergeist perfectly, and after gently putting the cheagle on the ground, Sirris ran forward and attacked it, with Luke right on her heels. Once they had killed it, Sirris picked up the red orb and started down the stairs, not even noticing when Amai tried to cast a healing arte on a small gash in her arm.

"Aerys, you're bleeding," Amai told her when the arte failed. Sirris looked down, and sure enough, her brown dress had a tear in it and blood was seeping out of a wound. She scowled and pulled an apple gel out of her wing pack before popping it into her mouth. Jade dropped back to walk next to Amai, who was hanging in the back.

"Your healing arte didn't work on her, did it?" he asked quietly. Amai shook her head.

"It had no effect whatsoever," she confirmed. "It would have worked perfectly otherwise." Jade's eyes narrowed as he watched 'Aerys' enter the room with the locked door. She placed the two orbs into two of the slots and watched as they flowed down and became purple. The door disappeared and they started down the stairs.

"Aerys, do you always fight without a weapon?" Jade asked. Sirris looked back at him and blinked.

"Why?" she asked. Jade shrugged.

"Just curious," he replied. Guy shot a curious looked toward Jade, then turned his attention to 'Aerys,' who had just reached the bottom of the stairs. They were turning another corner when a cry of pain caught their attention. Sirris rushed forward, immediately bringing their attention to the problem.

On the floor, a redhead was bleeding from a wound on his side. Amai ran over to heal him while the others focused on the doll that had attacked him. As Luke finished off the doll, Sirris noted that the redhead had disappeared.

"Well, that's a hell of a way to say 'thanks,'" Luke grumbled. Sirris, however, crossed her arms.

"Wasn't that Asch the Bloody?" she asked Amai, who was standing off to the side healing. Amai nodded.

"Yes. He seemed to be in a rather foul mood," she replied quietly.

"He's always in a foul mood, from what I hear," Sirris countered. "Come on. We'e still got that engineer to help. Arietta should have him on the roof." Without another word, Sirris headed towards the stairs on the other side of the room, ignoring the machine that stood in the middle.

"Colonel, do you know what that big machine is?" Anise asked. Guy had been looking at it as well. Jade, however, simply adjusted his glasses.

"I can't be sure. I'll share my thoughts on it once I'm certain," he replied. Just then, a mouse skittered past the group. Anise shrieked and grabbed onto the closest person, which unfortunately happened to be Guy. A few long seconds passed...

"Gah!" the blonde screamed. Sirris, who had gone on ahead slightly, ran back, then sighed with frustration.

"Anise, are you alright?" Tear asked. Anise stood up carefully. Jade, however, focused in on Guy.

"That didn't look like a mere aversion to females to me. What happened in your past that would cause this kind of reaction?" he wondered out loud. Guy stood.

"I honestly don't know. I wasn't like this as a kid," he replied. Sirris couldn't help but scowl.

"We all done wasting time yet?" she asked bitterly. Jade turned to look at her.

"You seem to be in a hurry," he observed. She shot a look reminiscent of a glare in his direction before turning and walking away. "Not to mention the fact that her mood has worsened considerably since Kaitzur," he added.

Luke sighed and began to follow the 'blonde' up the stairs.

* * *

><p><strong>(Jade's POV)<strong>

I watched Aerys as she killed yet another poltergeist. Her attacks, which had seemed less aimed before, were now made with deadly precision. I was almost certain now that the girl before us wasn't actually an eleven-year-old named Aerys.

"Aerys, are you right-hand dominant or left-hand dominant?" I asked. The girl turned to me with a cold expression on her face that mirrored my own.

"Right-hand. Why?" she replied. I narrowed my eyes as she turned away.

"Just curious," I found myself repeating once again. 'You've become an awfully good liar, Siri,' I caught myself thinking. 'Though it's necessary for what he forces you to do, isn't it?'

And as Sirris walked on down the halls, I couldn't help but wonder what could have come out of that mistake had I told the truth afterwards...

* * *

><p>Sirris sighed. they were on the roof. And so was Arietta. Unfortunately, the secret 'Seventh God-General,' Luke the Idiot, was not on the roof at this time. Sirris thought about it and amended her thought. No, Luke would never be a God-General. But the title of 'Idiot' was quite fitting.<p>

"More circles," she muttered. "I hate circles. Round and round they go until you're dizzy and you stumble into a ditch and die."

"That's a really pessimistic way to look at it," Anise told her as they walked back down the steps they had just finished climbing. Sirris sighed, but wisely chose not to say anything.

"Let's hurry. Who knows what Dist took Luke for?" Guy said. Sirris looked around at the group. As they came around a corner, a flash of red caught Sirris' eye.

"It's looks like Asch the Bloody is still hanging around," Sirris warned everyone. Sure enough, when they rounded the next corner, they spotted the head of red hair walking down the hallway before turning again. Sirris turned to look at Guy, and the two nodded to each other before taking off, the others on their heels.

The next turn sent the running into the area near the large fon machine from before. Asch, it seemed, was under attack from Sync. Guy and Sirris rushed forward to attack the green-haired God-General. Guy's blade missed his face, but knocked his mask away. Sirris' eyes narrowed, but she didn't have long to think before back-flipping out of the way.

"Dammit, they're already here!" Sync cursed, putting his mask back on. "This was an unauthorized mission. And you," he pointed to Asch. "Don't think you'll be able to get away with simply deserting like this!" Asch glared back.

"I'll take my chances," he growled.

"Fine. I have to leave, but I trust Arietta will take care of you. She's waiting on the roof," Sync said before running off.

'Aerys' walked over to the God-General.

"Apparently a short attention span is a genetic defect that runs in the Fabre bloodline," she grumbled to him, holding a hand out to help him to his feet. "I tried to get your attention eight times." As she looked him over, she realized that he wasn't wearing his uniform, instead wearing a simple black and gray outfit.

"Whoa! There are two Lukes?" Anise cried. Luke, who had just been freed from the fon machine stared at Asch in a mix of shock and horror, and Asch glared back.

"The idiot over there is the Luke you guys know. Asch is the original Luke," Sirris practically spat. Everyone's attention was turned to her.

"How do you know that?" Jade asked her. She walked over to Luke and moved his hair and collar, revealing a light blue scar.

"That's how I know," she said simply. Suddenly, Guy ran forward with his sword drawn in an attempt to attack her. Sirris flipped backward, landing in the working area down below. However, as she flew through the air, the blonde wig fell from her head, revealing crimson hair. When she turned her glare on the group, her violet eyes faded to silver and gold.

"Nightshade," Guy hissed. Luke and Asch stared at her, shocked, while everyone with the exceptions of Jade and Amai drew their weapons. Jade stared down at her, a mix of emotions hidden behind a cold mask. Amai, however, simply smiled at the girl down below before quietly removing herself from everyone's line of sight and disappearing.

"Who were you after this time?" Anise asked, staying between Ion and the assassin below them. Sirris growled.

"Arietta. Now if you'll excuse me," she muttered, stalking over to the steps on the far side.

"Jade, why aren't you arresting her?" Tear asked the statue of a man behind her. Sirris turned around at the sound of the Colonel's name and hissed.

"If he wanted to arrest me, he would have done it years ago!" she spat before running away and disappearing. Jade looked stricken.

As everyone turned their attention to the colonel, no one noticed one of the redheads slipping away.

"What did she mean?" Guy asked. Jade shook his head.

"That is a part of my past I would rather not bring up. At any rate, let's just say that I didn't expect that mistake to result in a fifteen-year-old girl being the world's most feared assassin," he replied. Anise looked at him in shock.

"Fifteen? There's no way she could be older than me!" she cried in surprise. Jade sighed.

"Unfortunately, that's exactly how old Sirris is. She'll turn sixteen in Shadow-Decan," he told her. "By the way, that engineer is still on the roof waiting for us."

"Yes, let's go get him back," Tear agreed. The group headed up to the roof carefully. When they arrived, they watched as Sirris dodged Arietta's friends and charged straight at her. Arietta growled and dropped the stuffed doll she was carrying to dodge the assassin's attack. Guy ran forward to help her, noting the red flashing in and out of his peripheral vision. Very soon, Sirris was trying to hold off the entire group, as well as Arietta and her friends.

"Enough!" she cried, jumping into another mid-air backflip and landing on the edge of the roof. "Since it's obvious I won't be able to finish this, I might as well leave."

"And where do you think you're going to go?" a new voice asked. Half of Sirris' opponents turned to see Van standing at the top of the stairs. Sirris glared at him, and he glared back. "There's nowhere for you to escape."

"Watch me," she challenged. Then, standing up out of her crouch, she turned and launched herself off of the roof. Everyone on the roof rushed forward and watched as she dived into the sea below. A few moments later, much to their shock, she resurfaced and swam to shore, where a small platoon of Oracle Knights was waiting.

They watched in shock as she killed all of them and sheathed her midnight-bladed dagger in her boot once more. Then, after looking up at the roof, she took off towards the woods. Van turned to Arietta then.

"What were you doing, destroying the ferry and then kidnapping the engineer?" he asked angrily. She shuffled her feet.

"I'm sorry… Dist asked me to…" she muttered. Van sighed, then around the roof.

"Asch, what are you doing here? And where's Luke?" he inquired. As the others realized that the redhead among them was, in fact, Asch, his second question began floating around some more.

Then, acting on a whim, Asch turned around to look at the woods in the distance.

"He went with Sirris," he said simply. And as the others turned their gazes toward the woods, the realized that he was right. There were not one, but two red-haired teens running towards the forest; one in brown, one in white.

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><p><strong>Tony: Surprise! Anyway, I'd like to explain Amai's name a little. Amai means sweetnaïve in Japanese, and Sakkaku means illusion. Well, who liked my attempt at a cliffhanger? By the way, I'll probably edit this chapter later on, because not only is it shorter than the original version, it also happens much faster and one part is a little backwards… Well, I'll shut up now. REVIEW!**

**Edit: Okay, so it took a while to fix... I'm sorry! Don't kill me, please!**


	5. Chapter V, Truth and Training

**Tony: Milk and cookies, milk and cookies, milk and cookies, milk and cookies, milk and cookies, milk and cookies, milk and cookies, milk and... -gasp- DOUBLE-FUDGE OREOS! -runs off-**

**Amai: Er... It's probably not a good thing that the author just ran off on a sugar rush, is it?**

**Leon: Considering the fact that Tony rarely falls victim to sugar rushes... No it's not a good thing at all.**

**Amai: Who are you?**

**Leon: None of your business. At any rate, Tony apologizes for the shortness of this chapter. He also wrote the reviewer responses out at the bottom.**

**Amai: Please review when you get down to the bottom! It really doesn't take that long!**

**Disclaimer: Tony doesn't own Tales of the Abyss.**

**Leon & Amai: Enjoy chapter 5!**

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><p>Bloody Nightshade<p>

Chapter V

Truth and Training

**(Sirris' POV)**

I scowled at the replica. He stared back at me, pain evident in his eyes. I had moved my dagger back to my hip where it belonged. He had removed his sword from its sheath and stuck it in the ground.I wanted him to go away.

He wanted answers.

"What makes you think I'm going to tell you what everyone else apparently saw fit to hide from you?" I asked him. He simply stood there.

"You tried to kill me once. But I don't believe that you wanted to," he said quietly. Slowly, that innocent determination broke through the barriers I was attempting to create. I uncrossed my arms.

"Sheath your sword," I growled. "We'll talk later." The replica seemed happy enough with this answer, as he pulled his sword from the ground and put it back into its sheath before following me further into the forest. We only had a few hours of daylight left, and I intended to make use of every minute of it. I knew roughly where I was heading.

After traveling with the replica for three weeks, I thought I knew what to expect. I thought he would start talking and never shut up.

He managed to surprise me. Not only did he stay relatively quiet, he also stayed out of my way when monsters attacked. But he did have a few questions, and I'll admit, he was careful about asking too many at once.

Finally, as the sun was setting, we came out of the forest to find ourselves at the entrance of the Deo Pass. I looked around for a bit, then headed back over to the tree line.

"We'll make camp here tonight," I told the replica. He nodded and walked over to me. After lighting a small fire, I sighed. "I was almost hoping you'd turn around and go back to your friends," I admitted. He sighed.

"I thought about it... But they're the ones hiding things," he replied. I looked at him closely. His crimson hair was just a shade lighter than Asch's. Somehow, though, his emerald eyes were darker. I sighed and played with a strand of my own crimson hair.

"Alright. Where do you want me to begin?" I asked. "And keep in mind that I'll only answer your questions about yourself. If I want you to know about my life, I'll tell you." The replica looked up and nodded.

"Okay. Let's start with what you meant by 'Asch is the original Luke,'" he said. I sighed.

"Well, that's definitely the perfect place to begin. Seeing as how it has to do with your birth," I muttered. "Alright, no interrupting me now. Seven years ago, Luke fon Fabre was kidnapped by a man he considered his idol. This man brought the ten-year-old Luke to Choral Castle and locked him in a small cell in the wall of the basement."

"You mean the area where that fon machine... Sorry," he said as I glared at him.

"'That fon machine' is a fomicry device," I told him, holding up my hand when he opened his mouth. Wisely, he shut his mouth. "Fomicry is the practice of using the seventh fonon to create replicas, copies of things. Of course, the man who created it, Dr. Jade Balfour, put a ban on fomicry quite some time ago.

"Now, the man who had kidnapped Luke was the same man who put that fomicry machine in the basement, and despite the ban on replicating living things, he worked day in and day out to create a stable replica of the boy," I explained. "The replica was placed up in the main hall where the Kimlascan soldiers would find him, and the original was taken to Daath."

The replica opened his mouth and closed it again. I nodded, indicating that he could talk. "You mean, Asch was the one kidnapped seven years ago? I'm a...a replica?" he asked. I nodded. He stared down at the grass and picked at it quietly. After nearly ten minutes, the lost look on his face turned into determination. "Who kidnapped Luke?" he asked. I found myself slightly impressed that he seemed so willing to refer to his original by the name that had been his for seven years.

"Dorian General Van Grants," I answered honestly. The replica looked shocked.

"Master Van? But why?" he cried. I sighed.

"If I remember correctly, the Score claims that Luke is to die soon... So Van created you seven years ago to save him from that fate, or something like that. Anyway, it's getting late, and I'm heading through the Deo Pass tomorrow. I'd like to get in and get out in one day this time," I grumbled. The replica, it seemed, was very interested in the blades of grass that he was randomly braiding together... Okay, knotting. I can't call that mess a braid.

"I'm coming with you," he told me. I sighed.

"Why?" I inquired. The replica looked at me, and I realized the reason why before he even said anything.

"I don't exactly have anywhere else to go," he replied. I stared at him for a few moments before sighing again.

"Alright. But if you're going to stick with me, then we're going to have to work on you stamina and fighting skills. And I'm not going to go easy on you," I told him. He nodded.

"I don't expect you to."

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><p>Jade sighed. As if listening to Luke and Anise hadn't been enough on the way in, listening to Arietta and Asch was worse, and the fact that Van was attempting to get them to stop arguing wasn't helping at all, as, more often than not, the Commandant was simply pulled into the argument.<p>

"You'd think that the knowledge of Nightshade being around would make them wise enough to shut up so we aren't all distracted by their banter," Guy muttered to him. Jade, however, shook his head.

"Sirris won't attack us again. She'll be headed north, back to her home in Keterburg," he replied.

Guy looked at the colonel for a moment. "You seem to know her pretty well," he said. Jade nodded.

"I've been keeping track of her movements since she was eight. Would you like to know where she went after the attempt on Luke's life? I could tell you the exact ferries she rode," he replied. Guy looked at him in shock.

"We know she left Baticul on foot, but we don't know where she went after that," he told the older man. Jade nodded.

"She went through the Inista Marsh, then caught a ferry from Port Belkend to Daath Bay that left a mere hour after dawn. Once she arrived in Daath, she booked a passage on another ferry, then went to Aramis Spring, most likely to train," he explained. Asch walked over then.

"I saw when she came out, we ended up on the same ferry. Not that I knew it was her at the time," the redhead grumbled.

"Um, on another note, we still need to get the letter to Kimlasca," Ion interjected.

"Yes, and without Luke, it'll be extremely difficult to get an audience with the king. Especially considering the fact that Tear and Guy are with us," Jade stated. Asch sighed.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to do something like this... But I don't want this war to happen either. I'll worry about Uncle. You see what you can do about tracking Sirris down, since you're apparently quite good at it," Asch grumbled to Jade.

Jade smiled. "I'll see what I can do."

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><p>Sirris sighed and turned around to face the redhead behind her. His breath was coming heavy and he had recently started asking about food.<p>

"One hour," she stated. "Shut up and move for one hour and then we'll stop to eat. But you're going to start your training after that." Luke nodded and watched as she turned and continued along the road. They had been running most of the morning, and despite slowing to a fast walk after noon, he was tired. Okay, that was an understatement.

He was exhausted and hungry. But if the young assassin's sarcastic comments had been any indication, continuing to pester her about food or rest would be asking for a death sentence.

"Where are we going after Akzeriuth?" Luke asked. Sirris shot a glance back at him. He was trying to keep up to her, really, but the boy just didn't have the stamina she did. She sighed and forced herself to slow down a little.

"St. Binah. I've got something I need to confirm from one of my master's friends. We'll be staying over in Akzeriuth for only a night, but we could end up iin St. Binah for a week. It all depends on how the meeting with this 'friend' goes," she told him. A bird-like monster attacked then, but before Luke could react, a wolf rammed into him.

Sirris dispatched of both monsters quickly, then glared at Luke. "Lesson Number One - Be aware of your surroundings," she said, scowling. Luke stood up, careful not to get caught up in his thoughts. His eyes glanced around. Unfortunately, his attempts at staying vigilant failed, as, mere moments later, another monster attacked.

Before he could even draw his sword, Sirris had killed it. Luke sighed, an action that was mirrored by the young assassin in front of him. "Come on. We don't have that much further to go," Sirris grumbled. Finally, they reached the rocky outcropping she had been looking for.

"You know, I'm a little surprised," Sirris informed Luke as she pulled a pan out of her pack. "I expected you to whine about being a replica, or accuse me of lying to you or something of the sort. But all I've heard today is a minimal amount of complaining about either the road, how you're tired, or the fact that you're hungry."

"I honestly don't want to think about being a replica right now," Luke said. He sighed. "But I believe you. You said replicas start out with nothing, like a newborn in an older body. That's exactly what happened with me. They brushed it off as amnesia, but..."

"Okay, mind off of that matter," Sirris grumbled. "I'll warn you right now, until you can keep up with me to a degree, we're not working on your sword skills. Stamina first, then defense, then offense, and maybe we'll work on your speed afterwards. But it's gonna be straight-up stamina training for a while."

"Right," Luke said. He watched as Sirris stood up.

"Okay, this'll work," she muttered, eyeing the distance between two boulders. Then she walked back over to the pan and messed around with the meat in it. After a short while, she pulled out plates and gave some of the meat to Luke, who ate it slowly enough so as to not choke on it but relatively fast. "Apparently I'm going to have to stock up on bread and fruit for the time being until you get used to my diet," the girl mumbled.

Luke smiled as he slowed down, finally taking the time to enjoy the spices Sirris had put in the meat. Despite slowing down however, he still finished quickly. Sirris finished hers up and grabbed Luke's plate.

"See that boulder over there? And this one here?" she asked. Luke nodded. "From one to the other is a leg. Ten legs, ten push-ups, and ten sit-ups in a circuit, ten circuits. I'll be back before you finish the third, and no slacking!" she ordered. Luke sighed and stood up, putting his sword and bags on the ground.

Sirris smirked as she left to clean the plates and forks. She knew that Luke would be complaining before he was even halfway finished, so she intended to do the circuits alongside him once she got back.

Meanwhile, Luke had just finished his first ten legs and had dropped to the ground for the push-ups. Nearby, he thought he heard a bird squawk. Ignoring it, he finished the push-ups and then the sit-ups before he set to running again.

As promised, Sirris returned as he completed his third set of push-ups. After putting the dishes away, the redheaded girl ran over to where Luke was just about to begin another set of legs. "I'll be doing ten circuits too, if it's any consolation," she said before dashing toward the other boulder, bouncing off of it, and running back. "Except I'm running laps instead of legs."

"What's the difference?" Luke managed to ask as he ran past her. Sirris smirked.

"A lap is from the first rock to the second rock and back to the first. In this case, it's two legs," she explained. Luke rolled his eyes as he finished his last leg of the circuit.

"In other words, you're running twice as much as I am," he replied. Mere seconds later, Sirris was on the ground beside him.

"Yup."

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><p>The redhead smiled as the sun rose. The sky, which was navy blue in the west, was streaked with pink, red, gold, and orange in the east. From the camp in the Deo Pass, it was a beautiful sight. As the sun finally peeked over the horizon, the second redhead woke, rubbing sleep from emerald green eyes.<p>

Sirris stared up at Luke, slightly surprised. "I didn't think you'd be up this early," she stated. Luke turned around to look at her.

"Your eyes are green," he stated. Sirris shrugged.

"It happens sometimes," she replied. "Seriously though, I was surprised to see you awake before me."

Luke chuckled. "I wanted to see the sunrise. That, and I figured that if I didn't get up, you'd do something to me," he told her. Sirris let a small smile grace her lips before walking over to her bag and opening it up.

"Well then, why don't I make some breakfast... Luke..."

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><p><strong>Amai: He threw you guys for a loop with that last part, huh? You totally thought Sirris was the one watching the sunrise!<strong>

**Leon: Just post the damn reviewer responses already, you stupid spi-**

**Amai: -places hand over Leon's mouth- Shut up and I will! Anyway, here you guys go!**

**DAve and Bob- ****Yeah, that was a little problem I fixed. I didn't like how Asch just suddenly popped in either. But I fixed it, so... It's still not as good as the original story, but we can't solve all problems.**

**(Eloriane)-**** You're right. It was bad and interesting at the same time. But I fixed the bad part. And I have another chapter for you. So here you go. Have a cookie with it. -hands over cookie-**

**Amai: What is with him and cookies all of a sudden...?**

**Leon: He's on a sugar high, what did you expect?**

**Amai: Right. Well, anyways, we're out of here! Don't forget to review! It really doesn't take that long! (Oh, and you're welcome to state your opinions on the fixed fourth chapter as well.) Tony won't get any better if he doesn't know what to improve on!**

**Leon: Alright, Amy, time to go. -leaves-**

**Amai: My name is Amai, not Amy! Get back here! -chases after Leon with her staff in hand-**

**Tony: Don't kill each other, you're in the next chapter, Amai! -muttering under breath- Idiots... Ahem... Good day to you all, and please leave a review on your way out.**


	6. Chapter VI, Finding Patterns

**Tony: I'm back with another chapter! And right on time for once... Ahem...**

**Reviewer Responses: DAve and Bob - Yeah, well, I figure that all the pressure finally got to Luke after Akzeriuth in the game, and he's a little distracted in the Deo Pass. It's mentioned in this chapter that he didn't actually react that nicely when he finally realized what Sirris had told him. I'll admit; I just really didn't want to write an extremely whiny Luke. Other than that, thanks for reading, and a super big thanks for reviewing regularly. Here, have a few Oreo's. -hands over cookies-**

**Disclaimer: Tony(Marluxia of Avalon) does not own Kingdom... crap. I don't own Tales of the Abyss.**

**Kairi: And Selenia belongs to me as well, though she's older here than in RitA/ST.**

**Tony: Get out!**

**Kairi: But I just got computer rights back! -turns to readers- Enjoy the chapter!**

**Tony: That's supposed to be my line...**

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><p><em><strong>Bloody Nightshade<strong>_

_**Chapter VI**_

_**Problems**_

_St. Binah, exactly three weeks after Choral Castle_

Sirris watched as Luke finished yet another circuit. They had been here in St. Binah for days now, and her master's friend had yet to give them, or rather, her, the information she needed. After the four-day trip from Choral Castle to the Akzeriuth side of Deo Pass and another five days on the road, Sirris had been ready to kick the redheaded replica to the curb. He had broken down their first night in Akzeriuth, finally trying to deny, even if only for a few minutes, that he was a replica.

Unfortunately, Sirris' tendencies to refer to him simply as 'replica' reinforced what he knew to be true. So his denial had only lasted for a quarter of an hour. Afterwards, though, he spent time sulking, and Sirris had quickly lost her patience with him. She had set off the next morning early, hoping that she could get away from the replica, but he had followed her, and stubbornly insisted on attempting to push himself past his limits.

Sirris had stopped trying to outrun him then, and had instead focused on their schedule. It had taken them twelve days of running in the morning, walking from late morning to afternoon, late dinners, and short training sessions afterward in order to reach St. Binah. Life had been rhythmic and simple, and Sirris was pleased to note that they had been running longer each day.

For the last two days, however, they had adopted a new pattern. Sirris had outlined a circuit through the city designed for stamina and agility, and had told Luke that he had to run it at least fifty times each day they were here. Whether he did the circuits all at once or not was his choice, and Sirris had the sneaking suspicion that he had already finished his fifty for the day as he ran past her once again.

"He really intends to train hard," she muttered under her breath.

"Who?" a young girl's voice asked. Sirris turned around, willing her eyes to turn green as she did so. Standing behind her was a brown-haired girl, who looked to be about thirteen or so. The girl's hair was pulled into two braids, and her bangs were hanging neatly across her forehead. Blue eyes shone out from behind wire-frame glasses.

"My brother," Sirris answered. As much as she disliked the replica, with her eyes so willing to turn green and her red hair, it was so easy to pass them off as siblings.

"Oh... That red-haired boy that ran past a while ago?" the girl asked. Sirris nodded. "So, who are you?" she asked. Sirris sighed. Apparently this girl was one of those who thought that she was her age, and as such, she needed to talk to the visiting girl.

"Loren," Sirris answered simply, thinking about the name she had used when she first met Luke. "Yours?" she asked, figuring that she could at least _act_ like she wanted to get to know this girl.

"Selenia. What's your brother's name?" the brunette replied.

"Luke. He's seventeen, I'm fifteen," Sirris told Selenia. Selenia smiled.

"Ah-hah. Another vertically challenged girl. I'm turning sixteen next month, on the thirty-seventh," she said. Sirris looked her over. Now that she knew how old she was, she could see that her earlier scan had been incorrect. The evidence was in her body shape, and the elegant outline of her face.

"Yeah. At least my brother's not so short," Sirris replied. Just then, Luke ran over, apparently deciding that he had done enough circuits. "Speaking of which…"

"Hello. You must be Luke," Selenia said, holding out a hand. Luke shook it. "I'm Selenia. Your sister and I were just talking."

"Yes, about how vertically challenged we both are. She's about a month older than me and an inch shorter," Sirris said, adopting a slightly more light-hearted tone. Luke smiled.

"I'm glad that gene passed me over," he teased, earning him a light punch from Sirris. As Selenia laughed at the 'siblings' antics, a boy with light blue hair that was black at the tips and green eyes ran over to them and tapped Sirris on the shoulder. He whispered something in her ear and she nodded.

"Thanks, Shuro," she told him as he ran off. She turned to Luke, who was looking at her curiously, and nodded. Then she looked at Selenia. "We have to go. See you later, Selenia!" Sirris said, running off with Luke on her heels.

"I take it the guy finally got our information?" Luke asked once they were out of her earshot. She nodded as her eyes faded to gold and silver again.

"Yeah. Which means we'll be on the road again tonight. By the way, how many circuits have you done today?" Sirris asked. Luke flushed red.

"I got to seventeen and lost track this morning, and I made it to twenty before I lost track and kept going for about twenty minutes until I stopped just now. I think I've done a total of about fifty-six or so though. I know I kept going for at least another quarter hour after I lost count the first time," he told me. Sirris smiled slightly.

"You're not breathing nearly as hard as you were the day after we left the Deo Pass, so I'm happier. Now, let's go figure out what this idiot has for us," she told him. Luke smiled slightly. She couldn't help but notice that he seemed to be staying slightly behind her as they walked. She sighed. Then they reached the home of the man Sirris was supposed to be getting this information from.

Shuro's brother Inte, who had short black hair and blue eyes, opened the door for them. From inside the house, Sirris could hear the man's daughter singing an upbeat song with her brothers backing her up. In the front room, however, was the man she was looking for. He was relatively short and balding, but his brown eyes were very alive. Sirris glared at him, and he gave her an apologetic look.

"What took so long? I left that letter almost five weeks ago, saying that I'd be back in four," she growled. The man shifted from foot to foot.

"It was a bit more information than he usually asks for," he told her. "I had to get some assistance from someone else to get it all in the time I did."

"Whatever. Where are the files?" Sirris grumbled. The man pulled a key out and unlocked a cabinet nearby, then pulled out four manila folders, each one filled to the brim, and all bound together with simple white string.

"Here. And the next time he needs information that detailed on that many people, tell him that I'll need more than four weeks," he told her. Sirris snorted.

"You tell him that. I'm not an idiot," she countered. The man cracked a small smile.

"I never said you were," he replied. "I take it you'll be leaving tonight?"

"Yes. I have what I need, and a few extra problems to boot," she told him, shooting a glance over her shoulder at Luke. "And not a word about him, understood?" she added as the man's attention turned to the redheaded replica behind her. The man nodded, and Sirris turned towards the door.

"We're leaving. Get our crap from the room at the inn and meet me by the gates in fifteen minutes," she ordered the replica. Luke sighed and followed her out the door, then set off running once they were outside. Sirris watched him go, then walked to the gates. With ten minutes to spare, she carefully removed the string and skimmed the files. The first was a relatively familiar face; Vandesdelca Musto Fende, A.K.A. Dorian General Van Grants.

The second file was the smallest of the four, and the face was another familiar one. It was Ion… Except that the name was that of Sync the Tempest of the six God-Generals. Sirris sighed. 'If Sync is a replica of Ion, then the chances that Ion is a replica of Ion are high,' she thought, closing the file.

Also in the files was a duke in Grand Chokmah and an earl in Baticul. Neither of them were familiar faces, but both were listed as being targets for the Assassins' Guild, an underground but legal organization. And since Sirris wasn't registered with them, she wasn't an assassin, according to law. She was a murderer.

As Sirris was tying the files back up, Luke ran over, her bag slung over his shoulder and his own at his waist. He handed the bag to her and she put it on before leading the way out of the city.

"Next stop, Grand Chokmah," she informed the other redhead. Luke nodded.

"We're skipping Engeve, then?" he asked. Sirris nodded.

"Yup," she said simply.

Off in the woods, however, a Malkuth soldier noted their words carefully, then returned to St. Binah to report. He didn't realize, however, that Sirris had seen him, nor did he realize that she knew exactly who he was reporting to.

On the edge of the courtyard in the Fabre Manor, Jade sighed as he looked over the most recent report he had received. Out in the courtyard, Asch and Guy sparred, neither going easy on the other. Tear was petting Mieu and watching the two boys, healing them when necessary. Anise and Ion were watching as well, waiting and hoping that everything up at the castle would go well.

Asch, however, had noticed Jade's sigh, and the paper in his hand. "Enough for now," he told Guy. The blonde jumped back, then followed the redhead's gaze to the paper in Jade's hand.

"What's that?" Guy asked. Asch walked over to Jade, with the blonde on his heels. Jade adjusted his glasses.

"Anise, Ion, Tear, would you three mind joining us?" he asked. Hearing a door close, he turned around. "Ah, Princess Natalia. Please, join us. I was just about to summarize the reports I've gotten from my men." Natalia looked at him confused, but Asch's scowl deepened.

"They've found Sirris and that idiot," he guessed. Jade nodded.

"Oh yes. It looks like our redheaded friends headed through the Deo Pass to Akzeriuth," he replied. Natalia looked surprised.

"But there's miasma in Akzeriuth… Emperor Peony requested help evacuating the citizens," she interjected. Jade nodded.

"Indeed. They only stayed one night, and it seems that Sirris has told Luke the truth of what he is, as the man who sent this report claimed that the only sentence he overheard was Luke shouting 'I'm not a replica.' At any rate, they left early the next morning," he explained. "They were in St. Binah for three days, leaving yesterday afternoon. Sirris was collecting something for someone, but what exactly, we have yet to figure out."

"Any idea where they're headed?" Guy asked, his expression dark.

"According to this report, Grand Chokmah, and it appears that Sirris is planning on bypassing Engeve on the way. Knowing her, though, it's very likely she'll change her mind at some point. Which is why it's a good thing that there's someone in Engeve already," Jade told him. Asch shook his head.

"I still want to know why the hell that idiot replica went with her, and willingly, no less," he grumbled. Jade sighed.

"I'm afraid that none of us has figured that out yet. We do know that Sirris is pushing Luke extremely hard though. He'll be a challenge if we have to fight the two of them at any point," the colonel added. Anise bit her lip.

"I sure hope Luke knows what he's doing," she said. Jade sighed.

"I'm going to go report to the duke. In the meantime, play nicely children," he said. Asch scowled.

"I hate him," he stated once the colonel had left the courtyard. Anise and Tear giggled. "He's sarcastic, obnoxious… and downright annoying. Although I'll give him this much. He can be pretty honest when he wants to be, and he's a good fonist to have on your side in a battle," the redhead added.

"What the heck?" Guy found himself asking. "I swear, every time you start listing off things you don't like about someone, you list off the things you _do_ like about them too." Asch smiled and looked up at the sky.

"You've got Topaz to thank for that," he replied. Natalia and Guy both smiled at the memory of the honey-brown-haired girl.

"I wonder what happened to her after her uncle took her home," Natalia mumbled. Guy sighed.

"That kid deserved better than being stuck at home alone though. I hope he got a different job or something, or at least moved closer to civilization," the blonde man added. Asch nodded.

"I'm sure she's fine," he said. In his head, he added, 'And if my suspicions are correct… she's more than fine. She's alive and well, and also not an orphan, as she told us all those years ago… But if I _am_ correct, then what the hell happened, Jade?'

**(Sirris' POV)**

"I thought you said we weren't stopping in Engeve…" the replica muttered. I smirked.

"Jade sent one of his men to follow us and likely try to figure out what we're doing and where we're going. I was hoping to lose the sadistic bastard for a week or so. The man's been stalking me since I was eight," I told him. Then I spotted the flash of blue. "Well, damn. That plan went to shit."

"Let me guess, we're being followed again?" he asked. I sighed.

"Discreetly watched, actually, but yes," I replied.

"Hey… How accurately has he followed you?" he wondered.

"Accurately enough that he could probably tell you exactly where I went after the botched assassination attempt on your life, and how long I stayed in each place," I replied. "It's fucking annoying."

"I imagine," he replied. I sighed.

"It's late. Go book a room at the inn; I'm going to restock on food. We leave for Grand Chokmah in the morning," I ordered him. He walked to the inn, and I headed for the market, which would be closing soon. As I browsed through the meats and vegetables, though, I found myself thinking about the man I had been trying all my life to hate.

'You knew what Roran was like… Why didn't you do anything? I ran away when I was four, and he found me a year later, when I was finally happy. I'm nothing more than a slave to him… You may be a monster, but your mistake made me what I am today. An even more vile monster,' I found myself thinking. I bought the things we needed absentmindedly, and then headed back to the inn, picking up another notebook as I went. The replica was writing in his journal when I walked in, and I sat on another bed and opened mine. There was very little space left on the last page, so rather than starting another entry there, I wrote a short note at the bottom and opened the new notebook.

"Why do you keep a journal? Just being curious, you don't have to answer if you don't want to," the replica asked. I looked over at him.

"Why do you?" I wondered. He looked down at the book in his lap.

"Honestly… I don't know anymore. The doctors and mother made me start doing it in case I lost my memories again… But now that I know the truth… I really don't know why I keep doing it," he told me. I sighed.

"I started keeping my diary about four years ago. I was bored and needed something to do, so I just started writing in a notebook… Nowadays, though, I think it's the only thing keeping me sane. It's something… human. It keeps me tied down to earth, the normalcy of it… I sound like an idiot," I said. He smiled.

"When you put it that way… you do actually sound like an idiot. Well, not an idiot… You don't sound like… _you_. Gah, now I sound like an idiot," he told me. I smiled.

"You always sound like an idiot. It's nothing new," I countered. The replica threw a pencil at me, which I caught and put on the bed next to me. "Just finish your writing and go to bed."

"Yes ma'am," he replied teasingly. Not ten minutes later, the lamp next to his bed was turned off, and light snores could be heard from his direction. I smiled as I wrote in my journal. As I put it away and drifted off to sleep, I caught myself wondering what had happened to Asch.

_Light hit the four-year-old's hair as dawn rose over the city. Despite being under the stairs and wrapped up in only a thin blanket, she was sleeping peacefully with the knowledge that she wouldn't be awoken by a kick to the ribs. Or rather, she thought she wouldn't be awoken that way. When a seven-year-old's heel contacted with her side, the girl shot awake._

"_Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!" the blonde girl cried. Then, stopping to examine the girl, she cocked her head. "Um, what were you doing sleeping under the stairs?"_

"_None of your business!" the girl grumbled, her emerald green eyes shining with annoyance. Her honey-brown hair was in tangles, and it was impossible to tell exactly how long it was. As the blonde prepared to tell the girl off for her rudeness, a six-year-old boy with red hair and a ten-year-old blonde boy ran up to her._

"_Natalia, don't run off like that. Hey, who's that?" the boy asked. The four-year-old glared at the three children in front of her. The blonde girl, Natalia, crossed her arms._

"_I don't know. But she was sleeping under the stairs and when I asked her why she was rather rude," she told them. The boy crouched in front of the girl, and their emerald eyes locked onto each other._

"_I'm Luke. What's your name?" he asked politely. The four-year-old glared at him, but didn't speak._

"_Is your home somewhere around here?" the blonde boy asked. "Oh, my apologies. I'm Guy." The girl's attention shifted to him for a moment, then turned to the blonde girl._

"_I'm Natalia," she said bitterly, knowing that the girl had already figured out her name. The four-year-old looked over each of them quietly, then mumbled something. Natalia cocked her head again. "Um, could you please speak up?" she asked, losing the bitter undertone to her voice._

"_Topaz," the younger girl repeated. Luke smiled._

"_It's nice to meet you, Topaz. Where do you live? Is it nearby?" he asked. Topaz shook her head violently._

"_Homeless," she said quickly, obviously afraid of something. Guy smiled._

"_That's alright. We'll find somewhere for you to stay. Do you have any family that you know of?" he asked. Topaz stood, pulling her blanket around her shoulders like a cape as she did._

"_No. I'm an orphan," she told them. Natalia couldn't help but smile._

"_Don't worry. We'll find you a nice place to stay and a family. Would you like that?" she said. Topaz smiled._

'_A family…' she thought. "Yes…"_

Sirris scowled as she and Luke walked into Grand Chokmah. This wasn't a city she wanted to be in much, but there were ferries coming to and from it, so she had little other choice. She sent Luke to the inn to book their room again while she turned her eyes brown and headed to the docks to find a ferry headed to Keterburg. After booking their passage on one leaving the next afternoon, she headed to the bridge nearby.

Luke was waiting for her, looking over the edge of the bridge at all of the running water. Sirris growled in the back of her throat. "You're acting like you've never been here before," she grumbled. Luke looked at her.

"I haven't. I've been to Engeve and St. Binah, and I was too distracted in Akzeriuth to really pay attention to my surroundings. I want to look around a little," he replied. Sirris rolled her eyes.

"Let's eat first. Then I'll let you go explore. Tomorrow morning, though, we're heading back to Theor Forest to train. The ferry doesn't leave until late tomorrow afternoon. I'm not going to let you rest until we're on the ferry, and then I'll wake you up about midnight for some night-time exercises," she warned him. Luke nodded, the smile that had been on his face fading to a more serious look. "By the way, you might want to buy some new clothes. Maybe something with long sleeves that doesn't show your stomach, seeing as how Keterburg is covered in snow all year long."

"I'll do that later. I'd rather eat first," he told her. Sirris sighed.

"Boys and food," she muttered, a comment that had Luke grinning. "Come on, replica."

Sirris led Luke to a bar nearby and ordered two bowls of curry. "And a little cabbage on the side," she whispered to the bartender. He looked at her for a moment, then glanced at Luke before turning back to her and nodded. Luke hadn't heard the added comment, and was confused when the man behind the counter looked at him.

"Um, what was that about?" he asked. Sirris shook her head, a motion that told Luke not to bring up the subject.

"Here you go," the bartender said, handing them their curry and napkins. Tucked into Sirris' napkin, however, was a paper. It had only a time and date on it, which she carefully noted before discreetly dropping it into her curry and watching it dissolve. The date was that very day, a fact that pleased the unregistered assassin.

Once she and Luke were finished with their dinner, Sirris bid Luke goodnight and watched as he ran off to explore. Then, she walked up the stairs to the second floor of the bar and sat a specific chair. The hood of the brown dress she still wore concealed her red hair while she sat, stirring a frozen drink she had bought absentmindedly.

Finally, a half an hour later, a elderly man tapped her on the back and led her to a table in the back. Sirris sat down across from the black-haired man who sat with a bottle of untouched beer on the table.

"And which member of my esteemed guild are you running errands for?" the violet-eyed man asked sarcastically. Sirris let her eyes fade to normal and lowered her hood and glared at him. The man glared back, not in the least surprised. Sirris took a deep breath, knowing that she had about a minute before the man across from her told her to leave.

"I need you to pull Duke Andres from the board," she stated. " I know that I'm not a member of the Assassins' Guild, Raven. But Master Roran has collected a file on him, and he may well send me after him. Although if he does, I won't be killing him."

"And why would that be? Going to attempt to run away again?" Raven's sarcastic questions added to the tension. Sirris smirked.

"No. It just so happens that I know someone who very well may join the Assassins' Guild within the next year."

* * *

><p><strong>Tony: Well, well… What do you think? Sirris seems to be confident about something, huh?<strong>

**Kairi: -reading over one part repeatedly- Hang on, isn't Shuro a girl?**

**Tony: Well, for this story I made her a 'he.' So get over it.**

**Kairi: Whatever. I've got ST to write, since I'm due to update on Thurday. -poofs-**

**Tony: Right. Ahem, PLEASE REVIEW! There were 28 visitors for last chapter alone, and a total of 72 visitors for the entire month. I know there are people reading this, and honestly... I'm a little sad that only DAve and Bob and anonymous reviewer Eloriane have gotten around to reviewing. So REVIEW, please. I'm out. -poofs-**


	7. Chapter VII, Night

**Tony: Holy crap... I apologize for taking so long to update and then bringing you a filler chapter. Unfortunately, finals are coming up. So, this may be it for a while. Sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of the Abyss**

**Tony: Enjoy.**

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><p><strong>Bloody Nightshade<strong>

**Chapter VII**

**Night**

Sirris watched from above as Luke walked out to the back of the ferry. Night had fallen hours ago, and while she could see perfectly, she knew that the lack of moonlight would be causing Luke problems. As if on cue, he tripped over a rope she had laid out mere minutes before, and a bell attached to it rang out loud. Feeling around for the problem for a moment, he nodded, then carefully continued along, this time crouching rather than standing straight.

Had he not been crouching, he would have run into another rope, this one hung at about five feet off the deck. He passed it without even knowing it had been there, and managed to get over the next trip line as well.

Sirris smiled to himself. This was the third time Luke had tried to navigate to the back of the ferry. So far, he had tripped and run into a choke line, which had ended his first attempt, and then he had tripped and tripped again. She had been changing the course up each time, so he had no idea what to expect next. Watching him left her in no doubt that he was a quick learner.

As he climbed over a crate quickly and quietly to avoid it falling apart, Sirris prepared to operate the next part of the course. But before she could even reach it, Malkuth soldiers poured out onto the deck. Luke, hearing their approach but not knowing what was going on, hunkered down and hid behind a few crates.

"-she's onboard-"

"-not in the cabins-"

"-find her-"

"-under arrest-"

Sirris sighed as the soldiers talked amongst themselves. She knew exactly who they were after, and she didn't intend to get caught. Carefully, she started moving around on the deck, removing the obstacles she had put in place for Luke, hiding them, and staying out of the soldiers' ways.

Luke had managed to reach the back of the ferry, where a large pile of crates led up to the overhang. By the time Sirris had finished cleaning up, he was sitting between two heating units, quietly listening to the banter down below. Sirris joined him with a quiet sigh.

Luke examined her carefully, but said nothing, instead choosing to stare off over the dark water.

* * *

><p><strong>(Luke's POV)<strong>

What was I thinking? There was no way I could have gotten the answers to my questions from the others, but why did I have to come with Sirris? Sure, she's been honest, but why did I stick around? Why didn't I leave?

Those questions kept floating around in my head, but I knew the answers. Despite her apparent hatred of me, Sirris and I have one thing in common. We prefer selective honestly over outright lies. But I still had to wonder, why was I still going with her? The training was tough, nearly-impossible at first. So why wouldn't I give up?

Looking over at her again, I had a feeling I knew what the answer was. It wasn't for the strength I was finding, or the stamina. It wasn't because I wanted to be better than Asch. I was doing it for my own sake. I had nowhere to go, and if I left now, I'd be a sitting duck anyways. At least with her, I had somewhere to go, something to do, someone to help, even if I was slowing her down.

"Tired?" a quiet voice asked. It was familiar, but it wasn't Sirris. The assassin was on her knees quickly, but relaxed when she saw who it was. Looking over, I smiled at Amai.

"Not really. Staying away from the soldiers," I answered, careful to keep my voice low. Amai sat next to me and looked up at the few stars that were poking through the cloud cover.

Sirris was examining her carefully, and I caught myself doing the same before I even realized she was doing it. Amai's hair was shorter, now hanging around her waist, and she wore gray pants and a silvery shirt. I was a little curious about the change in appearance, and it seemed that Sirris was as well.

Almost two hours later, the deck quieted down, and Sirris told us that the soldiers had left. I rolled my eyes. "Does no one think to look up?" I muttered. The slightest hint of a smile slipped across Sirris's lips, and Amai sighed.

"They didn't want to upset the other passengers," she said. Sirris gave her another look, one that I couldn't quite read.

"How do you know that?" she asked. "And who are you, really?" Amai smiled, and I realized that, despite what I saw, she wasn't really there. She never had been, really. Sirris had somehow, in the time we had been traveling, managed to teach me how to feel the fonons around me. And everyone let out a fonic signature…

Except for the girl sitting next to me.

"I heard one of the soldiers say it earlier. As for who I am, I was being honest with you the first time, back in Choral Castle. I am Amai Sakkaku," she replied. Sirris and I glanced at each other, and I knew that she wasn't going to leave it at that. However, before either of us could respond to Amai's comment, a quiet but male voice called out.

"Amai, it's time to go," I heard. Amai smiled and walked over to the edge of the roof before turning to look at us.

"You'll figure it out soon enough," she said mysteriously. Before Sirris or I could say a word, she stepped off the roof. A glance was all I gave to the assassin before I ran to the side of the deck where Amai had jumped off. My eyesight wasn't nearly as good as hers in the darkness, but I didn't need her cat-like ability to see.

Amai and the mysterious boy who had called out to her were both gone.

* * *

><p><strong>(3<strong>**rd**** Person POV)**

Asch scowled. He was being sent to Akzeriuth to help the people out when he should have been looking for that damn replica. Managing to keep his cool in a room with a man he despised standing only yards away was difficult as it was, but trying to do so while confronted with this information?

Finally, his patience broke as King Ingobert went back to explaining why it was important that Kimlasca send a rescue team to Akzeriuth. As the king finished his sentence, Asch stepped forward, attempting to at least remain polite. "Your Majesty, if I may interject, I believe that it would be best for the parties involved to have some time to rest before setting out tomorrow," he said. Ingobert nodded.

"I understand. I will have everyone accompanying you meet outside the castle tomorrow morning," he replied. Asch bowed one last time and turned, walking as briskly as he could without seeming disrespectful.

He left the castle at a run, bypassing the elevators for the stairs, though no one used them anymore. His red hair flowed behind him like a cape, and the honey-brown color of the stones and buildings around him were doing nothing to get his mind off of Topaz, or Sirris for that matter.

* * *

><p>As he came to a stop on the bottom level of Baticul, he looked around and found himself laughing. Quietly, he sat under the staircase he had just run down and let his memories overcome him.<p>

"_Topaz!" the six-year-old Luke called. Nearby, seven-year-old Natalia and ten-year-old Guy called the younger girl's name as well. "Topaz!" Looking around, Luke bit his lip. "Topaz…" The whispered name reached only one person's ears, but she ignored it. Luke couldn't see her, none of them could. She was well-hidden behind the crates of food that were piled up near the vendor._

"_Luke, we're not gonna find her like this. We should start asking around and see if anyone's seen her," Guy told the younger boy. Luke sighed._

"_Yeah. But what I don't get is why Father had to say that stuff. She's not trying to pretend to be my sister, she doesn't know why her hair's changing at all. It hurt her a lot, Guy, and if we don't find her, she'll end up on the streets again," he told his friend. Guy placed his hands on his hips._

"_We'll find her, Luke. Besides, even if we don't, she'll probably be back home tomorrow morning," he promised. Luke nodded and began asking around. But only a few people had seen a girl matching Topaz's description, and they hadn't seen which way she had gone._

_Night had long since fallen by the time three tired children returned to the top level of Baticul. King Ingobert met Natalia outside the castle and led her inside, and Guy took Luke to his room. The duke stood in the entrance hall, but Luke ignored him, biting his lip to keep from crying. He wouldn't cry, he had promised Topaz._

_The sun rose the next day, and Topaz hadn't yet come home. Two more days passed, each one spent searching for her, and each one ending in failure. Finally, on the fourth day, Luke rose from his bed and trudged to breakfast. He ate quietly, not really paying attention to what was going into his mouth. Susanne tried to get him to talk, but to no avail._

_With breakfast finished, Luke left the manor, walking down the stairs rather than riding the elevator. He wanted time to sulk. His best friend had been yelled at and was now gone. "I hope Father's happy," Luke grumbled as he kicked a stone away. Watching it tumble down the stairs, a thought crossed the redhead's mind, and he wanted to kick himself._

_Running now, he reached the bottom level of Baticul in minutes. Rather than shoot off into the crowds, as he normally would have done, he stopped and looked under the stairs. Sure enough, a four-year-old girl in a gray, now-ripped-up dress was laying there asleep, her face still stained with tears. Luke bit his lip and crawled into the small space with her. Re-adjusting the thin blanket she wore, her curled up next to her and fell back asleep._

* * *

><p>Asch sighed. 'Topaz… what happened to you? Why did this have to happen? You were just a little kid… you're still a kid,' Asch thought, correcting himself at the end. 'So… Why?'<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Tony: Not a lot to say, other than 'sorry.' Please review on the way out...<strong>


	8. Chapter VIII, Poison

**Tony: Uh, wow... Heh, guess I got a little caught up in stuff... Ah well. A couple of shout-outs first before the chapter. First shout-out goes to DAve and Bob for supporting this story from the beginning (and being the only person to do so, other than Kairi). Secondly, another big shout-out to Kairi, who called me up, yelled at me for multiple reasons, and motivated my sorry butt into writing up this chapter and a few others before giving in and agreeing to start betaing for me again. And, last but not least, a huge shout-out/response to (Anonymous) for reminding me that this story even existed before Kairi called. Also, if there seem to be holes in the plot... Well, that's to be expected. Most of those holes will take a while to fill, although it looks like these next few chapters will be doing a lot of that, unintentionally.**

**Sirris: You done yet, moron?**

**Tony: Hey! That was uncalled-for!**

**Sirris: So?**

**Tony: ...I don't own Tales of the Abyss, but OC's are mine, and made-up artes belong either to me or to Kairi. Enjoy this chapter... And please, please, PLEASE review... I forget about this story if you don't... And I will try to have the next chapter up in a week or so...**

* * *

><p><strong>Bloody Nightshade<strong>

**Chapter Eight**

**Poison**

**(Sirris' POV)**

Snow. Ice. Cold. Pine trees. Mountains. Everything I had grown to despise. Those things, all together in one place… All it meant was home. A home that I hated.

And yet, the replica was fascinated by it. I supposed that it was to be expected. After all, he came from Baticul, where it became cold, but snow never stuck to the ground long. Ice melted quickly, and pine trees were few and far between. I'm certain that the mountains were nothing new; he had seen many since leaving Baticul.

It was the ice and snow, I was sure of it. Two things that I hated. And yet he was fascinated by them.

Sighing, I headed toward Keterburg. If the replica got lost and caught a cold, then I wasn't going to take the blame. I half-expected the idiot to romp around in the snow and not notice that I was leaving. Just my luck, he _did_ notice that I was leaving. He ran over quickly and fell into step behind me and to my right.

"So, why are we in Keterburg?" he asked about halfway to the city. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm headed back home. You, on the other hand, are going to stay with the governor. Honestly, I think that this is the only place where I can walk around in the open without people trying to kill me, even if they know who I am and what I've done," I found myself muttering.

"Why don't they try to arrest you here?" Lu—the replica asked. I scowled.

"It's because of who my biological father is… bastard," I muttered. The replica looked at me in shock.

"Who's your father?"

Fortunately, he's learned to translate my glares. Especially my 'drop it or die' glare. He was quiet as we walked through the streets of Keterburg toward the governor's mansion. I handed him an envelope when we stopped outside. "Give this to Nephry. Don't say a word until she's read it," I ordered him. "I'll be back when I'm back. I have no idea how long Roran will hold me here this time, so be prepared to stay here for a few days. Keep up your exercises, all of them, and keep yourself stocked up."

Without another word, I turned and walked away. I really wasn't prepared to face Roran yet, but I knew that if I delayed much longer, he'd start searching for me, and then he'd find out about the replica. If he found out about the replica, there would be hell to pay.

Once I had passed through the gate, I started running. The path was familiar, so I let my mind wander.

The replica's so-called friends had been on a peace mission, right? I wondered what they were doing now. Without the replica, it would have been hard to get an audience with the king, unless Asch had stepped up as the original Luke. While I doubted that he had done so, I realized that I barely knew the man at all. The seven years he had spent with the Oracle Knights had changed him so much….

And I had changed. All the years of training and abuse had worn me down.

I pulled my thoughts away from such things and back to the trail. I wasn't actually expected for another day, but since my mission had failed, Roran would not be pleased, regardless of the fact that I had returned early. I sighed and felt the bag on my back. The files were inside, patiently waiting to be read.

I reached my 'home' and opened the door quietly, not at all surprised to hear the sound of metal clashing against metal in a rhythmic way. Roran ran a forge, making all kinds of weapons while I was away, or even while I was here. I knew that he didn't like me being in his forge though, so I headed to the training arena and dropped the bag at the edge, next to the opening. I looked around at the obstacle course Roran had had set up and smirked.

After an extremely short bit of rearranging, I started in on it. I honestly couldn't tell you how long I ran through that course. My mind and body were on auto-pilot, and, despite the tough workout I was getting, I somehow managed to relax.

"So, home early this time," an all-too-familiar voice reached me. I jumped from one obstacle to the next and simply hung there upside-down from it.

"Yes, Master," I replied. "Arietta still lives," I added. Roran sighed.

"And why is that?" he asked, his temper obviously burning on a short fuse.

"She had some assistance," I replied. "And not just her monster friends. A few emissaries of peace from Malkuth helped her, as well as the Commandant and Asch the Bloody." Roran's scowl became less pointed at me.

"Wonderful," he muttered. "I take it you did actually remember the other thing I had you take care of?" I nodded.

"In the bag," I told him. He opened my bag and removed the files. Then he examined the course I had created.

"Another twenty-five circuits, then find your dinner. I shall not be joining you," he informed me. I nodded and flipped right-side-up again before starting the course over.

* * *

><p><strong>(3rd Person POV)<strong>

To say that Luke was surprised when the governor happily let him stay in a spare room would have been an understatement. But, he had learned not to question such things, and did as Sirris had told him to, probably even over-doing it a little. However, just as he had learned not to question some things, he was completely serious about his training.

Sirris had told him that she might be a few days, but she showed up the next afternoon to pick him up, warning him that they'd have to move quickly because of the time limit Roran had given her. They left via ferry to Chesedonia that night. Sirris kept Luke up most of the night training, then let him have a few hours of sleep between dawn and when the ferry was going to dock.

The two of them were walking through the bazaar and killing time because there weren't any scheduled ferries going to Kaitzur, and at that point, that was the only way to get to Akzeriuth.

"Well, now what are we going to do?" Luke asked after a while of silence. Sirris sighed.

"No idea. If the port's been closed for use by the Kimlascan military, then we're going to have to board the ferry illegally if and when it leaves. Which means we'll have to figure out why the Kimlascan military's messing around on the Malkuth side and who the ferry is… waiting for," she said, pacing around as she spoke, but freezing before she could finish completely. Luke followed her gaze…

And immediately wished he hadn't. "Dammit, what the hell are they doing here?" he grumbled. Sirris huffed in frustration and pulled him to the side where they hopefully wouldn't be spotted. Too late, as Jade had seen an unnatural red that didn't quite belong.

"Looks like I won't need the next report to figure out where Luke and Sirris are," he informed the rest of the group with him. They all stopped and turned to look at the Malkuth colonel.

"What do you mean, Jade?" Natalia asked. Jade's gaze landed on Sirris, who had given up hiding, as she knew that Jade had seen her, and was instead glaring at him with a look that caused the rest of them to cringe.

"She's scary," Guy commented quietly. Asch rolled his eyes and stalked over to her, noting that the replica looked about as annoyed as he felt. The rest of the group followed him, and the nine of them stood in the shade under a conveniently-placed but empty stall.

"I take it it's you who's got the Malkuth-side port locked up?" Sirris grumbled once they were all in relatively the same area. Asch crossed his arms.

"And you care why?" was his response. Sirris shrugged.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'm just on a really tight schedule and this counts as an extremely annoying delay that could result in a lot of pain for a lot of people," she not so much said as hissed. Tear stepped forward.

"We're on a mission to provide assistance to the town of Akzeriuth," she told the smaller girl.

"Because of the miasma?" Sirris replied, the anger slipping out of her voice a little. Luke looked shocked.

"Wait, what miasma? There wasn't any last time we were there," he said. Sirris shot a glare his direction. Natalia crossed her arms with a haughty huff.

"It was still being contained in the lower tunnels at the time. But by now, I imagine it's gotten loose and spread. It makes sense for Malkuth to ask Kimlasca for aid. Their road is blocked in two different places, first by the miasma, which is why we were hurrying the way we were through that one area, and second by the bridge, which is the reason we didn't go through Akzeriuth when I was in disguise as Aerys," she explained to the entire group.

"That's right. I'd forgotten just how sensitive you are to poison," Jade muttered, a comment that earned him Sirris's glare. Asch sighed.

"So then what are we going to do about the two of you?" he asked, redirecting his attention to Sirris. She drew her gaze away from Jade and looked at Asch. Jade nodded.

"Yes. I highly doubt the two of you are headed in that direction for the same reason we are, and for right now, you seem to be stranded in Chesedonia," the colonel told her. Sirris was definitely angry at this point, though why exactly no one could quite figure out.

"We're coming with you whether we have permission or not," she informed them. Natalia put her hands on her hips.

"Says who?" she asked the red-haired girl. Sirris shot a glare her direction. "If you're not even going to consider helping, I don't see why we should help you."

"Fuck off," Sirris told her, walking away and reducing Natalia to an indignant, sputtering mess. Luke made to follow Sirris, and Natalia grabbed his sleeve.

"Luke!" she yelled. Luke pulled his arm away from her.

"If I were you, I wouldn't get too worked up over it. I've heard worse out her mouth," he told her as he followed the assassin, who didn't even seem to notice that she wasn't alone. Jade adjusted his glasses as the two of them moved out of sight.

"Natalia, I suggest taking Luke's advice. Asch, let's go. They're probably headed for the port anyways, so I have a feeling we'll be seeing them again," he said. Asch nodded and led the group to the Malkuth Consulate, where something interesting was occurring.

Contrary to what Jade had said earlier, Sirris wasn't even thinking about going to the port. She was standing, as it turned out, on the west side of the consulate building, shouting curse after curse to the sky while Luke stayed back so that she was within his range of sight while not being too close. Then, with a final enraged cry, Sirris punched the wall, turned, and sat against it, having finally exhausted her anger.

"You really don't like him, do you?" Luke asked her. Sirris opened her eyes and gazed up at the sky.

"That's the understatement of the century," she replied, oblivious to the presence of the group she had been talking to earlier as they decided to go inside and talk to the person in charge. A few minutes later, Sirris stood with the intention of heading to the port, but something stopped her.

A glance around the immediate area revealed nothing, so she took a moment to look through the nearby window. She could see Guy crouched there, obviously in pain. Glancing to the side, she noticed that Luke was standing halfway around the corner.

Then she looked up. Without a word, she stepped away from the wall, then charged back toward it, managing to run partway up the wall and grab onto the ledge there. Sync started as she landed nearby, but settled into a partially defensive stance.

"Causing trouble again, replica?" she asked. Sync's breath caught in his throat for a moment, and Sirris smirked before charging forward, keeping her balance easily on the narrow ledge. Sync flipped out of the way as she aimed a strike at him, but wasn't quite as balanced as she and fell from the ledge. Sirris launched herself off the ledge and landed behind him, striking out with her left hand, aiming for a sensitive cluster of nerves on the back of his neck with the intention of knocking him out.

He managed to evade her though and ran off. While Sirris could have followed him, she had more important matters to deal with, including the fact that Asch's group was leaving the consulate. She scowled and headed out to meet them, ignoring Luke's baffled face as she walked past him. Absentmindedly, she noted that he was following her.

"I would have thought you two would already be hiding on the ferry," Jade said, a slight smirk on his face. That smirk faded quickly as a silvery blur flew past his head.

"You're lucky Asch took that extra step left," Sirris spat, somehow summoning the tiny throwing dart back to her hand. Not another word was said as the entire group boarded the ferry. After Sirris's obvious threat toward Jade, no one argued when she and Luke came onboard with them.

"By the way, Guy. The curse slot isn't bothering you at all now, is it?" Ion asked once they were on the ferry. Guy shook his head.

"No. It actually started fading before we left the consulate," he replied. "Hey, it was Sync who cut my arm like this. Does that mean he's the user?" Sirris scoffed.

"So he was causing trouble again…" she muttered. When a number of confused looks were directed her way, she rolled her eyes. "Sync was up on a ledge above where I was thinking, on the west side of the consulate building. I had intended to capture him, but the buggard got away, and I've got more important things to worry about," she explained.

Luke still looked a little confused, and was looking back and forth between Guy, Ion, and Sirris. The girl noted this and rolled her eyes. "I'd ask Ion if I were you. Now if you'll excuse me," she grumbled, leaving them without another word. Jade hesitated a moment before following her. In hindsight, that probably wasn't the wisest idea, but he needed to clear something up.

"Siri?" he asked quietly after a few moments, once he was sure Sirris hadn't heard him. The red-head rounded on him and shot forward, pinning him to the wall of the ferry. Almost as a second thought, Jade noted that the blade of the dagger that was now at his throat was a dark, menacing blue.

"You have absolutely no right to call me that!" the nearly-sixteen-year-old girl in front of him hissed, eyes a startling green that reminded Jade clearly of someone he didn't want to remember.

The colonel was caught in a position he had never thought he'd find himself in. It wasn't that he couldn't get out of this situation alive; he could do so easily because of the nearly-blind rage Sirris was in. It was more the fact that there were more emotions raging in both their eyes that either of them would care to admit.

But then he was surprised when Sirris removed her dagger from his neck and stepped back a little. "Why?" she whispered. Jade didn't know what to say, watching her. He had just watched as her anger had fizzled out into depression, and between not knowing exactly what she was referring to and the suddenness of the action, he was a little stunned.

"I'm afraid you'll have to be a bit more specific than that," he told her a moment later. Sirris closed her eyes—still an eerie shade of green, Jade noted—before opening them again and looking him in the eye with a steely coldness that matched his normal glare.

"Why did you tell Roran where I was?" she asked. Jade's heart froze in his chest. Finally, he closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again and adjusting his glasses.

"Roran was your legal guardian. I didn't know what he had been planning," he replied. Sirris bared her teeth, but slipped the dagger back into its sheath.

"You never change. Lying bastard," she spat, walking away. Jade had to remind himself to keep breathing.

"Hey, you okay, Jade? Sirris tends to get really pissed off around you, so I'm a little surprised you're still standing," Luke said as he came around the corner a few minutes later. Jade took a deep breath and turned to look at him.

"I most certainly screwed up where she was concerned," the colonel muttered. "But I'll live." Luke nodded.

"Glad to hear it. I'd better go check on her though," he said. Then he walked away, presumably going to look for Sirris. Jade decided that then might be a good idea to talk to Ion about something, and he left to find the young Fon Master.

A few hours later, when the ferry docked in Kaitzur, the first things off of the ferry were two red blurs, one wearing black, the other wearing brown.

* * *

><p><strong>(Amai's POV)<strong>

"I was waiting for you," I told Asch as he and a small group walked past. The group turned to me. With the exceptions of Aerys, who was actually Sirris, and Luke, as well as the addition of Natalia, the group was almost exactly the same.

"Amai?" Anise asked, obviously not recognizing me right off. But then, I had changed again, so it was to be expected. I nodded with a smile.

"Yup," I said cheerfully, playing with the straw in my hand. I never really had to use it, since I passed myself off as a fonist.

"So what are you doing here?" Tear asked. I shrugged.

"I heard about what's going on in Akzeriuth. I was going to ask if I could help. And by the way… Sirris and Luke were through here a few moments ago… I almost didn't realize it was them," I told them. Asch sighed.

"Well, at least now we know where those two got off to. Anyway, let's get going. The sooner we get Akzeriuth evacuated the better," the redhead suggested. "You're a Seventh Fonist, right?" he added, turning back to me. I nodded. "We'll probably need your help once we get there, so…"

"Alright. Lead the way, Asch," I said cheerfully, putting up an innocent façade as per usual. He nodded and started walking, and the rest of us followed. I was walking along at the back, not really doing much, when the hoard attacked us.

"Damn that's a lot of monsters!" Guy yelled. Tear pulled out a knife.

"Here they come. We may all have to fight," she warned. I felt the darkness drifting off of the monsters though, and frowned.

"Hold them off while I'm casting. Be careful; they're stronger than your average monsters in this area!" I called, already beginning to draw in first and seventh fonons. I didn't like using these hymns, and I especially didn't like to use them in front of… others… but I didn't have a choice at this point.

It took me three times as long to gather the necessary fonons as it took Jade to cast a single arte, but what I was about to do would devastate the enemies. "O devastating melody of the Elders, _Neu Kuroa Toue Rei Kuroa Toue Neu Toue_," I sang softly. Then I began the process all over again. As I sang the final note for the second time, everything seemed to freeze, before all of the monsters simply started dying.

Asch and Guy fell to their knees, while Anise simply lay on Tokunaga's back, all of them finally resting. Natalia breathed a sigh of relief before throwing up a Heal for Guy. But it seemed that Jade, Tear, and Ion were focused on me.

"Amai… That was one of the Forbidden Hymns. They're older than even Yulia's hymns… How could you have even learned it, let alone risk using it?" Ion asked, fear in his voice. I lowered my eyes to the ground.

"The Seven Fonic Hymns left by Yulia are ghosts of the Seven Forbidden Hymns. The First Fonic Hymn Tear uses puts her enemies to sleep… While the first of the Forbidden Hymns can kill. The power of the Forbidden Hymns was abused in the millennium before the Dawn Age. I don't like using the first hymn," I told them. Asch walked over.

"But I'm glad you did. We wouldn't have been able to survive that hoard of monsters, let alone kill it, if you hadn't used it," he told me. I sighed.

"I'm afraid that may have been my fault too… I'm not the only one who knows these hymns… and the other wants me dead," I said quietly.

"Well, whatever the case may be, we're alive. We should head for Akzeriuth… unless you're planning on disappearing on us again," Guy suggested, looking to me for the last part. I shook my head.

"No… There's something I need to talk to Luke about. He and Sirris are headed for Akzeriuth, so I might as well come with you all," I told them. Tear nodded.

"Right… But I wouldn't suggest using that hymn again," she said. I let out a bark of a laugh.

"I wouldn't dare. I'd kill all of you if I did," I replied. Judging from the looks around the group, I hadn't needed to inform them of that. I sighed. "Come on. I think I've given you all enough to worry about without adding the monsters along the path to that." Without another word, I started walking.

I guess the others decided that I was serious when I said I wasn't going to kill them, because they followed me and I eventually fell to the back of the formation again. The monsters between the naval port and Kaitzur were easily dealt with. Apparently, we were making a stop in Kaitzur so that Guy could speak to someone and to rest before setting out for the pass.

I split off from the group on the Kimlascan side, promising to meet up with them in the morning. After dodging a few questions, I left the city again and found a nicely deserted area where I could cast.

"O celestial tune of Heaven's messengers, _Neu Va Rei Kuroa Rei Toue Rei Va Neu_," I sang quietly, focusing on a spot just outside of Akzeriuth. The third fonons around me activated a glyph that had appeared below, and as the fonons dissipated, I opened my eyes to see that I was exactly where I wanted to be. I headed into the town, not at all pleased about the miasma that clouded the streets.

However, I found the man I was looking for quickly. "Van!" I called. The commandant turned to look at me.

"Ah. It's been a while, Amai. Not since before Hod, if I remember correctly. Is there something I can help you with? I believe I still owe you," he said. I pulled him to the side.

"Luke and Sirris are on their way here. If Luke sees you, he's bound to come running over. Please, make sure this gets to Sirris!" I told him, handing him a letter. "I'll warn you right now, you won't be able to read it. You know how my letters are." Van chuckled.

"Yes, I remember. Only the person the letter is meant for can read it. But why Sirris, and why is she coming here?" he asked. I shook my head.

"I'm not sure, but I need to get back before your sister's group finds out I'm nowhere near Kaitzur," I told him. Van chuckled and slipped the letter into a pocket.

"Alright then, get going. And be careful," he replied. I smiled and took off running, heading back out of the town so I could return to Tear and the others. As the final note of my hymn faded and the fonons gathered, I would have sworn I heard another voice singing the first of the Forbidden Hymns.

* * *

><p><em>Two days later, Akzeriuth<em>

**(3rd Person POV)**

Asch held a hand to his chest as he looked around. "This is worse than I'd imagined," Jade muttered behind him. Natalia ran over to a man on the ground.

"Are you alright? Don't worry, we've brought help," she told him. Asch took a deep breath and watched as a man approached.

"Are you the mayor?" he asked. The man shook his head.

"No. The mayor fell ill, so I'm handling things in his place. My name's Pyrope. Did you all come from the Kimlascan side?" he replied. Natalia came back over, but Asch spoke first.

"Yes. I'm Asch, son of Duke Fabre. I was sent here as a goodwill ambassador. We brought troops with us from Kaitzur to escort the citizens through the Deo Pass," he informed the man. Pyrope nodded.

"Most of the remaining miners and their families are either in the storehouses, which are acting as makeshift infirmaries, or the inn. A few have opened their homes to those whose homes were on the lower levels. But there are still a few men collapsed down in the mines. A man named Grants arrived a few days ago with a vanguard. He went down to find the men in the mine shafts this morning," the miner explained. Asch nodded.

"Alright. Anise, Guy?" he prompted the two as they came running up.

"The miasma isn't nearly as thick here as it is by the Fubras River," the blonde said. Anise put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, but it looks like it's really bad in the mines," she added.

After a moment, Asch nodded again. "Alright. Jade, you and I will go give the troops their orders, then we're all going down into the mines. If the miasma is thicker there, then that's where we're needed," he decided. Jade adjusted his glasses.

"I must say I'm impressed. I don't think Luke could have handled this," the colonel said. Asch glared at him.

"For one thing, that dreck's probably not even here anymore. And for another, I've actually had military experience, or did you forget that part?" the redhead grumbled. Then another redhead joined the group.

"Speaking of the dreck… Do us all a favor and help me find him," Sirris spat, surprising everyone. Her eyes, however, were a light brown rather than their usual gold and silver or green, and she was wearing a black cap over her red hair, most of which had been forced up under it.

"Um… While we're on the subject of finding people, where did Amai go?" Guy added. Asch looked around and groaned.

"We'll worry about her and that damn replica later. Jade," he grumbled. Jade nodded and the two moved off to find the leaders of the platoons they had brought with them. They returned to the group shortly, noting to themselves that Sirris had gone.

"Alright, let's head down to Mine Shaft 14. Pyrope said that that's where Van headed, and that all of the other mine shafts are clear," Guy said as the two walked back over. Asch nodded.

"Alright. We might as well keep an eye out for the replica while we're at it," the redhead said. As the group got onto an elevator headed down to the correct level, Ion turned to Asch.

"Why don't you ever call Luke by his name? You said you won't take that name back," he asked. Asch scowled.

"That's none of your business," he grumbled in reply. Ion looked a little downcast, but he followed Asch as the elevator stopped. The group was just about to enter the mine shaft when an Oracle Knight came running up to them.

Tear didn't look surprised to see him. "I'm Hyman. I'm the one who informed the Order about the Seventh Fonstone," the soldier said. Ion looked shocked.

"The Seventh Fonstone? Don't tell me it's been found!" he cried.

"We believe so," Hyman replied. Ion turned to Tear.

"Tear, please go confirm the Seventh Fonstone's authenticity," he said. Tear nodded and followed the Oracle Knight. Once she had left, Ion turned back to the others. "Let's go," he suggested. Asch nodded and led the group down through the mines. With the miners gone, bats and other monsters had taken up residence in the mine, and slowed the group's progress. However, they reached the storage area at the bottom of the mine eventually, and were shocked by the number of miners laying around.

"It's alright, we're going to get you out of here," Natalia promised a miner as she knelt over him. Asch looked around.

"Something's not quite right. Where's the vanguard?" he asked. Jade opened his mouth to speak, then looked up. Asch, too, could hear it, the sound of a battle above them.

"I'm going to go see what the commotion is about," he said. Asch moved around, talking to the miners and either directing them to help their friends or to start moving back out of the mine. He had been around a couple of times when he noticed another hole in the wall.

Ion had been staying close to him for a while, and the two of them exchanged a look as they saw the hole. "I hope that there aren't more miners down that way," Ion muttered. Asch nodded.

"Let's go," he suggested. The two of them headed down, further into the earth, but Sirris came running in then.

"Asch, wait. I want you to try something!" she called, stopping the duo in their tracks. Ion looked between the two of them.

"I'm going to go on ahead. I doubt there will be many monsters this far down. The miasma is stifling down here," he informed them. They nodded, and he turned and walked away. Asch then turned to Sirris.

"What was it you wanted me to try?" he asked. Sirris settled her gaze on him. He was faintly surprised to see that they were green.

"Try opening your fonslots and reaching through them to Luke's, and see if you can figure out where he is," she said. He raised an eyebrow. "Dist adjusted his fonslots at Choral Castle, they should be open to yours," she added. Asch sighed and closed his eyes, doing as she suggested. As he felt another presence, his eyes snapped open in surprise.

'Hey dreck, where are you?' he asked through the connection that was now open. He heard a grunt of pain.

'What the… Asch? How…?' mostly incoherent mumblings came through. Asch rolled his eyes.

'Where are you?' he repeated. He felt raw anger boil up on the other end.

'None of your business,' came the snappy reply. 'You aren't the boss of me.' Asch growled.

'No, but Sirris is standing right next to me,' he told Luke. 'Now where the hell are you?'

'I'm with Master Van. Now leave me alone,' Luke snapped, managing to halfway cut the connection. Asch gave up and closed it, then pressed a hand to his forehead as the headache chose then to kick in.

"Asch?" Sirris asked quietly. Asch looked up at her.

"He said he's with Van. From what little else I managed to gather, they're still in Akzeriuth. I'm not sure where though," he told her. Sirris scowled.

"Alright. I'm going to head back up. You'd best go check on Ion," she replied, running back the way she had come and leaving Asch alone. The redhead sighed and followed the path Ion had taken. However, as the path came out to an almost dead end, he found himself worrying. There was a door-shaped hole in the other wall, but before Asch could enter it, the world started shaking.

Jade, Natalia, Guy, Anise, and Tear came running moments later, as Asch was starting to get his footing on the still-shaking ground. They ran through the doorway into what Asch realized was a Sephiroth. The sinking feeling in the redhead's stomach grew as they ran into the area near the passage ring.

"Van!" Tear cried. The man in question looked up. At his feet, Luke lay on the ground, unconscious. The commandant of the Oracle Knights looked away from them for a moment as a bird came flying in. He jumped onto its back and it hovered above them. "You told me you were going to preserve these Outer Lands!" his sister cried.

"Mystearica… Some day you shall see the folly and ugliness of this world. I want you to live, so that I might see you come to your senses. You have the Fonic Hymns, use them," Van told her before flying off.

"Damn, the entire city is collapsing," Asch yelled. Guy was running over with Luke, and Anise had grabbed Ion, who had been collapsed a ways away. Jade made to run back out, but Tear stopped him.

"Jade, no! We'll die if we try to go back up," she told him. Then she raised her staff. _"Kuroa Ryou Zue Toue Ryou Rei Neu Ryou Zue~"_ she sang. Jade looked up, an strange look halfway between longing and apologetic on his face as the force field protected them from the falling rocks.

* * *

><p><strong>Tony: -sigh- Well, there you go. Luke destroyed Akzeriuth and Sirris is currently MIA, not to mention Amai... I said that I might be filling in holes in the plot this chapter... I think I just made more rather than filling any... Although I did explain how Amai has been moving around. Ah well. Please review. And please leave a name if you're an anonymousguest reviewer...**


	9. Chapter IX, Forbidden Knowledge

**Tony: Hello… I'm back already! I actually posted this chapter on time. Celebrate with me! –does a little dance- Okay, sorry. I've had too much sugar already this morning and my sister is out of the house, my dad went fishing (seriously? On a Monday morning? Who goes fishing on a Monday morning?), and my mom is at work, so I've got the house to myself, with the exception of the cat… But, you all didn't come here to listen to me ramble.**

**Huge thanks to DAve and Bob for reviewing again!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of the Abyss.**

**Tony: Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p><strong>Bloody Nightshade<strong>

**Chapter Nine**

**Forbidden Knowledge**

Luke didn't want to open his eyes. He had a feeling he knew where he was, and that he knew exactly how he had gotten there and why. The memory of Van's betrayal, still fresh in his mind, left him in no doubt of who's fault the catastrophe had been.

Finally giving in, Luke opened his eyes and sat up. He wasn't the only one down here, though only a few were conscious at the moment. _'Asch, Tear, Natalia, Guy, Ion, Anise, Mieu… But where's Jade? And… where is Sirris?'_ his thoughts raged. Looking around, he realized that two of his companions were awake. Tear was looking around, and while he wasn't very good at reading other people's emotions, it was obvious that she was upset.

The other conscious person was Guy, who was leaned over Ion at that moment. Luke walked over to Tear quietly.

"You idiot… what were you thinking?" she asked as he approached. When he didn't reply right away, Tear rounded on him and put her hands on her hips. "I was talking to you!" Luke flinched.

"I didn't know what he was making me do. And if you think I'm happy about what happened, you're dead wrong. I—" Luke told her. He was cut off by a whimper, however. Looking out at the muddy sea, he gasped. He only took two steps toward the stranded child before Tear grabbed him, however.

"Wait! That's a bottomless sea of mud and miasma! You'll die if you jump in there," she told him.

"We've got to do something!" Luke insisted. Guy ran over then with Natalia.

"Why don't we try healing artes? They might reach from here," Guy suggested. Tear nodded and started gathering seventh fonons. Meanwhile, Ion and Anise joined the group. Asch woke not long after, just in time to watch as they threw a plank of wood to the boy, who carefully rowed his little makeshift raft over to them. He was only about halfway, however, when it started to sink.

"No!" Natalia cried. Luke held out an arm to stop her, but then launched himself off toward the crate. He landed carefully, but it started to sink even faster. "Luke!" the princess cried. Luke quickly checked the boy's father for a pulse, and, having found none, pushed the man into the mud and grabbed the little boy before he could follow after him.

The redhead carefully tossed the boy to Natalia and Tear, then warned them to back up. After getting his footing, he jumped, just barely landing on the somewhat-solid ground. His impact had been a bit much for the unstable earth, however, and it started to crumble.

"Luke!"

The redhead's would-have-been messy fall into the mud and miasma was cut short, however, as a strong hand grabbed his arm and pulled him to safety. The entire group looked on in shocked silence as they realized, one by one, that Asch had been the one to save his replica. Luke, too, seemed shocked.

"Wh- why would you save me? After what I did…" he asked quietly. Asch scowled and stood up.

"If anything, you deserve to live with the weight of the lives you destroyed on your shoulders. Dying here would be too easy," he grumbled, walking away. Then, a rather unexpected voice joined the conversation.

"You're just surprised at how mature he's being and that he'd risk his own life for a kid he didn't know," Sirris muttered, obviously not very awake, as she was being carried in Jade's arms. The colonel's uniform was extremely dirty, and no one quite wanted to know what he had gone through to get to her. Luke, however, smiled in relief and ran over to the small girl.

"And Jade… If you don't put me down in the next two seconds I will slit your throat," Sirris added a moment later. Jade quickly put her down, taking her word for what it was, but not straying far from her side. Sirris hissed and shifted her leg.

"Here, I'll use a healing arte," Tear said. But Sirris held up a hand.

"Don't bother. It won't work," she told the melodist. Then she flinched. "Ah… But a Lemon Gel would be nice if someone has one." Luke, who had been rummaging around his bag for a while now, sighed.

"I used my last Lemon Gel back in the Deo Pass. Sorry," he said. Jade, however handed two over.

"Here," he said simply. Sirris regarded him carefully, then gave in and took them, popping one into her mouth without even a word of thanks, not that Jade had been expecting one. It seemed to do the job, as she managed to stand a few minutes later.

"Hey, isn't that the Tartarus?" Luke asked, looking past where they were standing. Jade looked over and nodded.

"Yes. The emergency buoy seems to be operational… if only we had a way to get onboard," he muttered. And then the port-side hatch opened and the ramp was let down, surprising all of them.

"Hiya!" Amai greeted them from inside. For a moment, everyone stood there, as if frozen by the huge smile across her face. "Well, are ya'll coming onboard or not? It's rather difficult to operate this thing by myself."

"I imagine," Sirris replied, recovering from her shock. "That girl…" she added under her breath.

"You know… I'm honestly not certain what to think about her," Jade commented. Then the land they were standing on shook. "Although I think we'd best get onboard," he added, a suggestion that everyone agreed with. Once onboard, however, everyone found themselves standing on the deck, looking out over the destruction of Akzeriuth.

"Well… At least I'll have a good excuse as to why I'm late this time…" Sirris muttered. Luke closed his eyes for a moment, though whether he was mourning the dead or thinking of Sirris's uncle, Jade knew not.

"Sirris, are you okay?" Amai asked suddenly, breaking the silence. Sirris had popped the second Lemon Gel in her mouth a few moments ago, but that didn't stop her from swaying where she stood. Luke ran over to catch her.

"I'm fine. I just need to rest," Sirris mumbled. Luke nodded and started carrying her off to a cabin, oblivious to the eyes on his back and the young boy that was following him.

"How did this even happen?" Anise cried, looking around again. Tear sighed.

"I'm not sure. The Sephiroth under Akzeriuth should have held it up, but…" she said. Asch frowned.

"The passage ring, the device that controls and stimulates the Sephiroth, was gone. I think I know what happened," he said. Ion turned to Asch.

"The passage ring was there at first. It disintegrated, somehow, but Dawn Age fon machinery like that is difficult to damage," he added. Asch nodded, knowing exactly what had happened.

"Van manipulated Luke into using a hyperresonance on the passage ring, probably after telling him that it would get rid of the miasma," Asch said.

"I wish I could say that you're lying but… that's exactly what happened," a quieter voice added. In moments, everyone had directed some sort of disapproving look toward the replica… Except Asch.

"You're not going to try to tell us that it wasn't your fault?" he asked, not even bothering to mask the surprise in his voice.

"While I'm not completely to blame for what happened, the fact still remains that it was my hyperresonance that destroyed the passage ring. I have to take at least some responsibility for the destruction of Akzeriuth," Luke replied. The looks on the faces of Tear, Guy, Natalia, and Anise had changed from disapproving to something reminiscent of shock.

"How much did Sirris manage to pound into your head in a month and a half?" Jade asked, the slightest note of incredulity in his voice despite the perfectly calm mask on his countenance. Luke scratched his head.

"Um… A lot…?" he replied. Asch raised an eyebrow.

"Judging from the fact that that sounded more like a question that a statement, I'd say you're not entirely sure," he said. Luke sighed.

"Whatever… I'm going to go do something semi-productive to distract myself," the replica replied before walking off. Guy stared after him.

"You know… I'm not entirely sure that's actually Luke," he said. Asch rolled his eyes.

"It's the replica alright. Anyway, what are we going to do now?" the redhead replied. Tear looked up from where she had been staring at the ground.

"There should be a city east of here, called Yulia City. We should head there," she said. Anise tilted her head.

"Huh? How do you know?" she asked.

"This is the Qliphoth, isn't it? Only Maestros and above in the order of Lorelei, as well as those who live in the Qliphoth, know of it," Ion added.

"So you were born here, Tear?" Guy asked. Tear nodded.

"Yes," she answered simply. Then she turned to Jade.

"I'll need some help on the bridge if we want to go anywhere," he informed them before heading in that direction. Asch was the first to follow, with Guy not far behind. Anise and Tear came after them, leaving Natalia and Ion alone. Well, relatively.

"Hello… Goodbye," Luke called to them as he ran past. Natalia stared after him.

"Um… what is he doing?" she wondered.

"Not entirely sure, but at least he's not just standing around moping," Sirris grumbled, coming onboard. Her face was still extremely pale, and the boy Luke had rescued was helping her along. "Tell me we're headed somewhere where we can get away from the miasma," she added. Natalia nodded.

"Yes… your body isn't taking the miasma too well, is it?" she asked. Sirris let out a bark of a laugh.

"The miasma couldn't kill me if it wanted to… but it can put me in a coma. I'm trying to stay awake for now. I don't want to risk falling asleep," she replied. Then Luke came running back over.

"Sirris!" he cried. Sirris shook her head.

"Where did the others go?" she asked.

"They went to the bridge," Natalia told her. Sirris turned to look off to her left and headed in that direction, aided by the boy and, as they got closer, Luke.

"By the way… What's your name?" Sirris asked the boy as they entered the bridge.

"John…" the boy whispered. Though, as silent as it was on the bridge, everyone heard.

"Sirris, shouldn't you be resting? You really don't look well," Tear asked. Sirris sat down to the side and closed her eyes, but forced herself to stay awake. Jade noticed.

"Your body is trying to put itself on standby, isn't it?" he asked. Sirris nodded, not bothering to open her eyes. "Damn. We likely won't make it to Yulia City before you go into a coma."

"Just get us there," the girl grumbled. Luke joined the quartet at the controls, and, after an extremely short crash course from Asch, helped them to maneuver the landship through the Qliphoth.

A few hours later, Jade looked up from his screen. "There's an abnormally large fonic signature coming from the east," he informed them. Tear turned around in her seat.

"That's probably Yulia City," she told him.

"Oh… goody," Sirris muttered. For a moment, all eyes on the Tartarus were focused on her, sitting in the corner, white as paper, and breathing too slowly for their liking.

'_Hang in there, Siri,'_ Jade thought, not daring to say the words out loud. Finally, almost an hour later, something came into view.

"Is that… a waterfall?" Anise asked.

"Yes. It's seawater from the Outer Lands," Tear explained.

"Wait, won't the water pressure crush the Tartarus?" Guy asked concernedly. Tear shook her head though.

"No, the water vaporizes near the ground," she replied.

"Then, here we go," Jade said. They moved the Tartarus through the water fall and docked it carefully, then prepared to leave. Jade moved over to Sirris's side. "Sirris, we've arrived," he informed the girl. When she didn't move, Jade knelt and checked her pulse. "Damn. We didn't make it in time," he cursed. Luke clenched his fists.

"If we can get her inside the city to safety quickly, she should wake up within a few days," he said. Jade already had the young woman in his arms.

"Let's go," Tear said, leading the way. John stayed close to Luke on their way out, but they hadn't quite made it past the city's shields against the miasma when Luke collapsed. "Luke!" Tear called back to him. Guy ran back to check his pulse.

"N-no way! Jade, he's fallen into a coma too!" the blonde called to the man standing just outside the shields. Asch ran back to help Guy carry the comatose replica into the city.

"First Sirris, now Luke…?" Anise wondered. Tear frowned.

"I don't understand… You said back in Chesedonia that Sirris was sensitive to poisons, so I can understand why she's fallen into a coma, but why Luke?" she asked Jade. He looked far more concerned than anyone else had ever seen him, something that worried the others.

"Let's get into the city, and then Tear, I want to try something," he suggested. Tear nodded and led them into Yulia City and to a house, then upstairs where there was a bed and windows leading out to what appeared to be a garden.

"I'll go get one of the spare cots for Luke," she said before disappearing back downstairs. She came back up with a cot and set it up quickly.

"Tear, use a First Aid on Luke, please. Asch, you're more sensitive to the Seventh Fonon than I am. Pay attention to how the Seventh Fonons react to Luke," Jade ordered. Tear cast the healing arte quickly, and after a moment, Asch looked shocked.

"What is it?" Natalia asked from the other side of the room. Asch looked up at Jade.

"Most of the fonons wouldn't go anywhere near him," Asch muttered. Jade nodded.

"Yes. The exact same thing happens to Sirris, except her body is farther along than his. That's why we didn't notice the miasma affecting him until after he'd collapsed," the colonel explained.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Guy asked. Jade sighed.

"Could we go downstairs to have this discussion?" he inquired of Tear. She nodded and took them back downstairs, where they all settled in around the table, with the exception of Jade, who chose to stand instead.

"There is an extremely rare mineral that can be found north of Keterburg called isomin. All isomin emits the same fonon frequency, hence the reason why it's called that. Powdered, it can also be a deadly poison. In the right amounts however, that poison will become… a cure, so to speak, and render someone incapable of being truly poisoned, even by the miasma," Jade explained.

"Wait, you mean Sirris and Luke both have this isomin in their systems?" Guy asked. Jade nodded.

"Yes. Well, so to speak. It's already left a permanent mark on Sirris. If I'm correct, she hasn't ingested it for ten years now. But it's still new to Luke's body. That's another reason why the miasma took so long to affect Luke the way it did. His body hasn't completely adapted to the isomin yet," the colonel replied.

"The isomin is also responsible for pushing away the Seventh Fonons, isn't it?" Asch asked. Jade sighed.

"Actually, the isomin does strange things in regard to the Seventh Fonon," he said. "In Luke's case, as he is, technically, a Seventh Fonist, he'll be able to draw in the Seventh Fonon easily, regardless of what he intends to use it for. However, in a situation like, say… Sirris's, where the person in question is not a Seventh Fonist, the isomin allows them to draw in and control small amounts of Seventh Fonons at a time. Sirris's Mystic Arte uses the Seventh Fonon, actually."

"Whoa, wait… So someone who can't use the Seventh Fonon could if they had that isomin stuff in their body?" Anise asked. Jade turned an unsettling gaze on her.

"Yes, but isomin is an extremely dangerous mineral. Even a tiny bit too much and it could kill you," he answered. "And while I'm not surprised that Sirris's uncle risked it, I'm a little shocked that Sirris would chance doing that to Luke. Then again, she is a master with poisons."

"So healing artes won't help Luke anymore?" Natalia asked. Jade nodded, then started looking around, as if he'd lost something.

"Colonel? Is something wrong?" Tear asked. Jade stopped looking around and adjusted his glasses.

"Now that I think about it… I haven't seen Amai since we all boarded the Tartarus," he informed them. The entire group started exchanging looks, each person more baffled than the next.

"Wait a minute…" Tear mumbled. She ran into another room, then came back with an old text, carefully flipping through the pages. "This is a book from the Dawn Age, written about a dead language. It translates hundreds of words from that language to the Fonic language we use now, bypassing Ancient Ispanian altogether. I thought her name sounded familiar… Here it is!" She put the book down and pointed to a word in the book.

"'Amai, meaning sweet or naïve. Often used as a girl's name,'" Jade read out loud. Tear then started flipping through the pages again, closer to the back of the book.

"Her last name was Sakkaku, right?" the brunette asked. Guy confirmed her question, and Tear stopped and pointed to another word.

"'Sakkaku, meaning illusion. The name of an ancient royal family or a name given to an elusive male,'" Ion read this time. Jade adjusted his glasses.

"Sweet Illusion… A fitting name for that girl, between her personality and the way she disappears," he commented. Tear frowned.

"I think I've heard of the House of Sakkaku… I'm going to ask Grandfather if he has a book about them. We should probably talk to him about Akzeriuth too," Tear suggested. Jade and Asch nodded, and the group left the room, but not before Asch paused. Natalia was the only one to notice, but he was following them again shortly, so she chose not to comment on it.

* * *

><p><strong>(Asch's POV)<strong>

'Huh? What's going on?' I heard. I stopped, before I realized that I had opened a full connection with the replica. I rolled my eyes and started walking again.

'We're going to go talk to the mayor about something,' I told him.

'We? Wait… why am I looking through your eyes?' he asked. I contemplated breaking off the connection, then decided against it.

'You and I are perfect isofons. We can connect to each other through our fon slots. Dist adjusted yours at Choral Castle so they'd be open to me,' I explained. He was quiet for a while.

'So… If I'm looking through your eyes, where am I?' he wondered.

'Your body shut down the same way Sirris's did. The two of you are in Tear's room,' I replied. More silence. I had a feeling that, despite his sudden, new-found maturity, the replica would still end up asking me countless questions that I didn't want to answer.

Surprisingly, we made it to the meeting room without another word. "Ah, I had a feeling you'd be coming. Please, sit down. I have a feeling that we have a lot to talk about," the elderly man at the head of the table said. I sat down quietly, but Tear asked her grandfather a question before walking off. "Tear will return shortly. In the meantime, I believe introductions are in order. My name is Teodoro. I am the mayor of Yulia City."

He turned to me next, and I scowled. "I'm Asch," I said simply. He raised an eyebrow.

"Just Asch?" he asked. I sighed.

"Asch fon Fabre, eldest son of Duke Fabre and former Commander of Special Operations in the Oracle Knights," I said.

'I don't think I'd want to say all of that either,' the replica mumbled. I snapped at him to shut up. Teodoro turned to each of the others in turn as they introduced themselves. I winced when the little cheagle hopped up onto the table and started talking.

'That thing's voice is so high-pitched…' I grumbled. The replica laughed, but I had a feeling that he agreed with me. Tear came back in once the cheagle settled into a chair.

"I suppose I should get straight to the point. We need to get back to the Outer Lands," Jade informed Teodoro. I nodded.

"We'll also need the Tartarus, so I'm afraid the Yulia Road is out of the question," I added. Teodoro looked thoughtful.

"It may be possible for you to raise the Tartarus back into the Outer Lands using the residual power from Akzeriuth's Sephiroth. But do you really need the landship that badly?" he said. I scowled.

"I wouldn't have said something about it if we didn't. But with Akzeriuth's destruction and my and Natalia's disappearances, Kimlasca may begin making preparations for war. It's likely that many of the ferries will be forced to remain docked as well. The Tartarus is our best hope for moving around freely," I told him. He nodded, seemingly deep in thought.

"I'll speak to a few of our researchers about the fon machine needed to raise the Tartarus. In the meantime, why don't you all rest at Tear's house? It should be ready by morning," he suggested. Jade nodded.

"I think we'll do that. I'd like to check on Sirris and Luke as well. While I know it will take Sirris a few days to slip back out of this coma, I have no idea how long Luke will remain in that state," he said. Everyone else nodded and stood, and I sighed and followed suit. Natalia had to get Tear's attention as we left.

Jade, Tear, Natalia and I were the only ones to make it all the way back to Tear's house. The others broke off in favor of exploring the city. Jade checked Sirris's vitals first, then started checking the replica's. After a while, he stood up and crossed his arms, obviously a little confused about something.

"Is something wrong, Jade?" Natalia asked. Jade sighed.

"Well, if the little medical training I've had is telling me anything, it's that Luke has already slipped out of the coma… But for some reason, he won't wake," he explained.

'That might be because I'm in Asch's head…' the replica muttered. I rolled my eyes.

'I'd rather not try to explain that Jade, of all people,' I told him. He agreed.

"At least he isn't comatose," Tear said. Jade turned to look at her.

"Learning anything?" he asked. Tear looked thoughtful.

"Not much yet. I'll get back to you on that in the morning. I should have it finished by then," she replied. Natalia sighed.

"I think I'm going to go join Anise. Asch, would you like to come with me?" she asked. I shook my head.

"No. I need some time alone," I told her. 'Well, as alone as I can get with you in my head,' I added to the replica. I felt indignation filtering through the connection, but brushed it off and headed out into Tear's garden to think.

* * *

><p><strong>(3rd Person POV)<strong>

Sync was thoroughly confused at this point. He remembered being onboard the Tartarus, then leaving it and being ordered to wait in Chesedonia until he was given further orders. He had decided to visit Tataroo Valley while he was stuck hovering around the large trade city.

That was where things got more complicated. First, it had been Yulia's First Fonic Hymn putting him to sleep once he was just inside the valley. Then, he had woken up in the middle of some ruins that he was certain didn't belong there, or at least weren't easily accessible.

He'd been walking through these ruins when he'd found the hole in the wall. It looked like it was man-made, so, lacking any other leads on how to get out of these ruins, Sync headed down into the tunnel, and had come out into a cavern lit by a then-unknown source, later discovered to be the sixth fonon.

Now, he was completely lost in the maze of fonon-lit caverns and pitch-black tunnels.

"Grr… I should never have left Chesedonia!" the green-haired God-General grumbled. Sinister but feminine laughter rang through the air around him as Sync entered yet another cavern, this one quite a bit different from the ones he had been walking through so far. It was still lit by the sixth fonon, and the floor was still sandy, but there was a spring bubbling up in a nook in the back wall, flowing down in a steady stream around the perimeter of the cavern, which, Sync noted, was also the largest he had been in.

He grumbled as he realized that he now had wet sand on his boots, as he had stepped through the water upon entering the cavern, though he had at least been on what appeared to be a bridge, as the rest of the stream seemed to be a foot or two deep and at least a yard across.

"I think that's the least of your problems right now…" a woman's voice told him. Sync started as he realized it was the same source of the laughter from earlier. But, looking around, he saw no one.

"Where are you?" he called. The laughter rang out again.

"I'm right in front of you," the woman answered, materializing. Sync leapt back, scowling as he landed in the deeper water two feet to the left of the entrance. It swirled around his legs, washing away the sand but soaking his pants and boots. "That's a little trick my family mastered some time ago."

Sync took a moment to look over the woman. He could only see her left eye past her pine green bangs, and the icy violet almost made him shiver. This woman, despite the maroon and dark crimson of her strange outfit, was dangerous, and Sync wasn't entirely sure he could beat her if it came to a fight.

"Oh, believe me. You can't," the woman told him. Sync froze, realizing that this woman could read his thoughts, then did his best to keep his mind empty. The woman threw her head back and laughed. "Oh, you learn quickly. And I feel a great deal of pain within you. You'll be perfect," she said.

"I thought we told you that you were not welcome here, Nigai!" a soft but stern voice rang out. The woman that had been stalking toward Sync stopped and looked over her shoulder. Her right shoulder, Sync noted, realizing that she wasn't actually looking.

"Hello, little one," the woman called Nigai said, her voice a little softer than it had been. The dangerous light in her eye had faded, though not disappeared. Sync looked past Nigai to see a semi-familiar face, someone he had seen with Luke's group at Choral Castle. "Tell me, Amai. How did you, Kumo, Sora, and Arashi intend to keep me out of here? These caverns belong to me as much as they belong to you, little sister, and as the eldest in our family, my word holds more weight than yours, even if you had all three of our brothers on your side, which, might I remind you, you don't. At least, not anymore."

"These caverns focus light. You gave that up the day you joined the Kurayami Council. Leave here," Amai ordered, her blue eyes glinting dangerously. Nigai scoffed.

"You have no control over me, _sister_," the elder sneered. "O celestial tune of Heaven's messengers, _Neu Va Rei Kuroa Rei Toue Rei Va Neu_," she sang. Moments later, a small whirlwind picked up and she disappeared with it, leaving only tossed-about sand at the proof that she had been there at all. Amai walked over to Sync.

"I'm sorry about that. I'll take you back to Chesedonia," she told him, holding out her hand. Sync ignored it and jumped out of the water, then scowled at his wet pants.

"Tch… Great. Now I'll be covered in sand for a week," he grumbled. Amai giggled and a fonic glyph appeared around her feet. Moments later, she used the exact same hymn Nigai had sung, and Sync watched as the winds whipped around the two of them. He closed his eyes against the flying sand, and when he opened them, he was just north of Chesedonia.

"There you go. All dried off, too, and no sand," Amai told him with a smile. Sync looked down, and was pleasantly surprised to find that Amai had been telling the truth.

"Um… Thanks," he said, a little awkwardly. Amai giggled, then took off skipping down the road, away from Chesedonia. "Hey, where are you going?" Sync called after her. Amai turned around, managing to skip backwards as she did so.

"I think it's time I find my older brothers," she replied. Sync watched as she disappeared into the forest, then headed toward Chesedonia.

"Today has officially been the strangest day of my life," he found himself muttering. Then he noted how low the sun was over the horizon. "Now to deal with Legretta."

* * *

><p><strong>Tony: Well, there you have it. Lots and lots of stuff that won't come up again until well after chapter twenty… (Or at least, that's how it's currently planned out. Might end up changing…) I'll warn everyone right now, we won't be seeing Amai again for a few chapters. And since I'm about halfway through the next chapter, I should be able to have it up by next week. (Key word being 'should' there.)<strong>

**Kairi: You know, I kinda have to feel sorry for Sync… He has absolutely no idea what the heck just happened. Actually... I'M not sure what happened there...**

**Tony: First of all, you're not supposed to get it yet. Second, GET OUT OF MY STORY! –kicks Kairi out- Gods, woman… Anywho… please please PLEASE leave a review… It's kinda disheartening when the only one reviewing is DAve and Bob…**


	10. Chapter X, Not a Child

**Tony: Hey, I'm back again! So, how did everyone like last chapter? Boring, right? Well, I wouldn't know, seeing as how practically NO ONE is reviewing… So disheartening…**

**Ahem, on another note… Big thanks to guest reviewer Magic tales 123! And another huge thanks to DAve and Bob for the continued support (via PM this chapter)!**

**So, since I'm afraid I still don't have any rights to Tales of the Abyss…**

**Enjoy the chapter! (And please don't forget to review on the way out…)**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Ten<strong>

**Not a Child**

**(Sirris's POV)**

Normally, when someone wakes up after being asleep for a long period of time, they will stretch, open their eyes, yawn, and do other such things.

I growled. No movement, no opening of the eyes, just a long, low growl that elicited a surprised squeak from that damn replica's pet cheagle.

"Nice to know that you're awake," a rather sarcastic voice said. I growled again, more out of frustration than anything else.

"Why the hell are you still here, Jade?" I asked without bothering to open my eyes. After a few moments without receiving a response, I sighed and sat up, looking around and noting that I was still onboard the Tartarus.

"We were going to leave you in Yulia City, but Luke requested that you be brought with us," he answered. I took a deep breath, feeling my lungs expand further than they had for a while.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"Four and a half days, give or take a few hours, since we're not quite sure when you fell asleep," he answered. Then my hatred of the man got the better of me and I swung my legs out of the bed and stood up, walking right past him. "Luke was comatose for a few hours as well," he added, stopping me in my tracks. "I honestly didn't think you of all people would give him isomin. Does he even know?"

I sighed. "About the isomin? No. But he knows I've been slipping something into his food and what it's doing to his body. I gave him the choice to keep going or stop a week in," I answered quietly. Jade stepped closer to me, a dangerous move on his part.

"You should probably tell him," he suggested. I scoffed.

"Whenever did you earn the right to tell me what to do?" I asked. I stepped out of the cabin then, ignoring him as I went. I was about halfway up to the deck of the Tartarus when the replica stepped out of a room and knocked me over. Then I corrected myself, as the actual replica stepped out of the room behind Asch. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, sorry, Sirris. Hey, are you feeling okay?" Asch asked. I shot a glare at both of them, not in the mood to deal with anyone with Fabre genes at the moment. Actually, I wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone, period.

I found my way up onto the maintenance deck and sat there, legs hung over the edge. We were back in the Outer Lands, though I wasn't sure how they had managed to get the Tartarus back up. I'd have to ask the replica about it later, when I wasn't in quite a mood.

Roran would be pissed. By now I was certain that he had started looking for me… Which meant talking to Nephry and finding out about the replica… which meant even more trouble for me once I was found. I guess I could always give in and go with the option I'd scorned since childhood…

'_No!'_ my thoughts screamed at me. I sighed. My only way to truly get away from Roran now was to admit to a truth I had long since scoffed at and pushed away. And who knew what Roran would say about the replica? He'd probably order me to kill it… not that I'd be too much against it. The idiot was annoying, and while I admired his enthusiasm, I didn't like the constant reminder of my past walking around with me, whether he was the real thing or not.

I bit my lip and shut my eyes, letting the wind carry away all of the stress that had been building up in my body. A few moments later, I opened my eyes and pulled the hat I had been wearing off, letting my blood-red hair wave around in the wind. It was growing quickly; the short cut from the Fabre manor hadn't lasted long. Then again, it never did. I'd trimmed my bangs a bit so they wouldn't be in the way, but the rest of my hair was already touching my shoulders again.

I leaned back and looked up at the sky, looking for shapes in the clouds floating by. I was trying to get my mind off the problem at hand, but no matter what I did, I kept coming back to Roran.

"You look like you could use some company," a quiet but male voice interrupted my wild imagination, which had decided to shed some fake light on what might happen when my uncle found me.

I looked off to the side and saw Guy walking over to me. I raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have a phobia of females?" I asked him. He laughed nervously.

"Yeah, well… You do a pretty good job at passing off as a boy. I figure if my phobia kicks in, I'll just think of Soren and work with that," he told me. I smiled a little.

"You haven't changed a bit, have you?" I asked quietly, not really intending for him to hear me.

"You barely know me," Guy said. I sighed and looked back up at the sky.

"You would never had met me like this if that lying bastard hadn't told him where I was," I replied. Guy didn't say anything for a while.

"You know… I feel like I've met you before. Like, before you tried to kill Luke. Did we run into each other before that?" he asked. I settled onto my back, one leg still dangling over the edge, the other raised up, knee pointing to the sky.

"It wasn't me back then. It was before I became Nightshade," I answered, the dark undertone my voice prompting him to stop asking questions. I was grateful for his company though. Thinking about him kept my mind off of Roran. But thoughts about Guy led to thoughts about Asch, whom I didn't want to think about. So instead, I thought about Natalia.

That didn't last long either, and after a while, I gave up thinking altogether and got up. Guy noticed and stood as well, following me over to the ladder.

"Hey. If you ever need to talk, I'll be here, alright? I'm not sure what happened with you and Jade, and I don't know why you're so bitter in regards to Luke and Asch, but I'm willing to listen," he told me once we were on the deck again. I couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks, Guy," I said quietly before walking away. I didn't make it far before the replica shot past me though. He yelled a greeting over his shoulder and continued on his way, and I smirked, deciding to take a page from his book for once.

I don't think Jade was expecting the two of us to walk onto the bridge sweating and, in the replica's case, panting, but he shrugged it off and went back to giving out orders to everyone. It seemed that we were docking in Port Belkend. Why, I wasn't entirely sure, but I decided that it would be a perfect opportunity to put the replica's training to the test.

Once we stepped into the port, I got in front of Asch and stopped, resulting in him stopping to avoid running into me and everyone else stopping just because.

"Now what?" he grumbled. I crossed my arms.

"Your replica and I have something else to do right now. Contact him before you leave Belkend. We'll be waiting here when you get back," I ordered him. He opened his mouth to argue, then seemed to think better of it.

"Tch. Fine. But you'd better be back here before we leave or we'll leave you behind," he told me. I rolled my eyes.

"Just don't forget to contact him," I grumbled back. Then I took off, the replica right behind me. I led him straight to the Inista Marsh. The monsters there were strong. Not nearly as strong as those around Keterburg, but stronger than a lot of the monsters on the continent. Plus there was the behemoth, though I didn't feel like fighting with that today.

"So, what are we doing in the marsh?" the replica asked as I knelt to get some pollen from the flowers near the bridge.

Now armed with rafflesia pollen, I walked over to the redhead. "Don't stray too far. There's a monster in here called the behemoth. It's huge and really tough. I picked up some rafflesia pollen in case it tries to attack us, but hopefully it'll stay away," I told him. He scratched his head.

"Wait, why pollen?" he asked. I rolled my eyes.

"It's probably some kind of allergy or something," I told him. "Now, as you've probably already figured out, it's not quite as easy to move here as on dry ground. That, plus the monsters here are the strongest on the continent. Pretty good place to train, especially if you have to make midnight runs from Baticul to Belkend."

The replica looked down and scowled at the mud that was trying to pull him in and managed to detach himself from it. "So basically you're sending me in here to kill monsters," he stated. I nodded.

"Yup. And I'll keep the behemoth away. He doesn't like me," I replied. The replica shook his head and started running, and I followed him, watching and commenting as he fought each monster.

In the end, I only had to chase the behemoth away twice. Asch had apparently remembered that he was supposed to contact his replica before leaving Belkend (one of the others had probably reminded him), and the two of us took off running out of the marsh and back to the port. Luke was covered in mud and was thoroughly soaked, and I wasn't much better… Although at least I only had mud on my lower legs.

We were sitting on the dock with our legs dangling into the water when the group walked up to us. "Luke, you're covered in mud!" Tear cried. I smiled and laughed a little, in a good mood after watching the replica mud-wrestle with a rather stubborn toad-like monster.

"And Sirris is soaked," Natalia added. Jade looked back and forth between us, a rather bewildered look on his face.

"What in the name of Lorelei were you two doing?" he asked. I couldn't help but laugh harder at the look on his face. As much as I hated the man, he looked rather strange when he wasn't wearing his calm and confident mask.

"Luke was mud-wrestling with an overly large toad while I watched," I answered, smiled never leaving my face. Asch crossed his arms, expression somewhere between embarrassment and frustration.

"You're the one that took my sword," the replica grumbled at me. I just broke into another fit of laughter.

"You were supposed to kill the thing, not capture it," I shot back. I think that was about the point where everyone else decided to stop asking questions. "Come on, there should be showers onboard the Tartarus," I told him, standing up and following Asch onboard. The replica sighed and followed after me, choosing to stay silent. Probably to avoid any more teasing.

* * *

><p><strong>(3rd Person POV)<strong>

Jade wasn't quite sure what to think. He'd seen a side of Sirris that she'd never revealed before, a happy, playful side, even if it was a little sadistic. He was forced to remind himself that she was, in fact, still a child, despite all that she had done in her short life, and he supposed that it was a good thing that she wasn't completely ruthless as many believed her to be.

But he still found himself wondering. He knew that he should be more focused on the task in front of him, but as he was doing little in the actual steering of the landship and there wasn't much else to be done, he let his thoughts wander a little. Sirris had reverted back to what they had come to know as her normal self; cold and independent. Although, Jade noted, Sirris was always the first person Luke turned to when he had a question.

'_Luke is only seven years old, after all. It's likely he's begun to look up to Sirris as an older sister,'_ he mused. Then he spotted the cave they were headed for and got back to business, directing them into the cave and docking.

As they stepped off the landship, Anise groaned. "The air is so moist," she grumbled. Ion looked around.

"It's probably because of the sea breeze," he told her. Sirris was silently looking around the area, and Jade noted that she wasn't wearing the same outfit she had been wearing for the last few weeks. A simple gray top with a single strap over her right shoulder and light brown pants replaced the brown dress and gray pants he had become accustomed to. Luke was still in the same black, blue, and silver coat he had been in earlier, or at least it looked the same. At least it wasn't covered in mud. The two of them stayed a little apart from the rest of the group.

"So, why are we here again?" Luke asked. Jade sighed.

"It seems that Van is doing replica research at the Fon Machine Lab 1 in Belkend. They've been getting fonimin from here," the colonel answered. Luke nodded without another word, surprising Jade slightly. Then he sighed. Traveling with Sirris had forced him to grow up fast, he realized.

Then he realized how far ahead Natalia had gotten. "Natalia, slow down. It's dangerous to stray so far from the group," he called, too late. Three monsters, unfamiliar monsters, his brain added, had noticed and attacked her. Asch, Luke, and Sirris dove forward as one, each killing one of the monsters before it could reach her.

"Asch… Luke… Sirris… thank you," Natalia whispered as Luke and Asch sheathed their swords. Sirris had taken the third monster out with a few well-aimed punches. Asch rolled his eyes.

"That's why we stay together… By the way Jade, do you recognize them?" he asked. Sirris scoffed from where she was examining the body of the monster she'd killed.

"Biology is not exactly my specialty. Why don't you ask Sirris?" he replied. Asch turned to the younger redhead in surprise, finding that she was poking the dead monster with an ill-disguised fascination that scared most of the group around her.

"Um…" was all Asch got out before Sirris stood up and kicked the monster, causing it to join its fellows in the process of fonon separation.

"We'll have trouble if these guys are part of a colony. Anclopolyps don't take kindly to their polyps being killed," she said. The entire group looked at her in confusion, and she sighed. "Polyps tend to form colonies centered around Anclopolyps, much like how liger packs are formed around a queen. Anclopolyps become extremely protective of their polyps, and will even kill another Anclopolyp if so much as one is killed. We killed three… If they were part of a colony, it's likely we'll have to deal with the Anclopolyp eventually."

Jade sighed. "That is why I suggested asking her. While biology isn't either of our specialties, she knows quite a bit about monsters. Especially poisonous ones," he said.

"Come on. Let's get this done quickly. I'd like to avoid a confrontation with an Anclopolyp if necessary," Sirris grumbled. Tear nodded and followed her further into the cavern, and the rest of the group followed moments later.

After almost an hour of wandering around, they found themselves at a dead end in what appeared to be a replica facility. Most of the group headed over to the computer, but Sirris and Luke headed back the way they had come. Sirris stopped and looked at another part of the cavern after a while, and Luke noticed and walked back over to her.

"Well, now what?" he asked. Sirris sighed.

"Honestly, I don't know," she replied. The two of them simply stood in that general area in silence for many minutes before the others joined them. Sirris noted the uncomfortable look on Asch's face, but didn't comment. The two of them simply fell in with the group as they made their way back to the Tartarus.

"We're dropping Anise, Ion, and Tear off in Daath," Asch informed them as they approached an open area. Sirris paid little attention to him, however, as they walked past an area of water. She stopped and walked over to the edge of the rock and peered into the murky water. "Sirris?" Asch asked when he noticed that she had stopped.

Sirris's eyes, which had been narrowed in concentration, flew wide open as she jumped back. "Watch out!" she yelled, still in mid-air. Seconds later, a large monster popped out of the water. Asch, Natalia, Luke, and Guy already had their weapons out, while Ion got out of the way. Anise, Tear, and Jade started casting, while Sirris growled. "That, ladies and gentlemen, is an Anclopolyp," she grumbled. Then she ran forward to start attacking the thing, which had climbed out of the water and was now moving toward the fonists in the back.

Sirris, after thinking back over what little information she remembered about the Anclopolyp, stopped and started casting. "O darkened storm cloud, loose thy blade and run mine enemies through… Thunder Blade!" she chanted, letting the arte loose on the unsuspecting monster. Then she ran forward to hold the monster off while Natalia ran back to cast a healing arte.

It landed inside of the light FOF that Anise's Limited had caused and Heal became Healing Wind. The arte should have healed all four of the melee fighters, but Sirris frowned. Jade had been right. Luke's wounds, though not very serious, barely responded to the healing arte. Hers didn't heal at all, but she had been expecting that.

Apparently Natalia had noticed that as well, because she sent another Heal toward Luke, and Sirris smiled as his wounds sealed up. Though a simple First Aid should have been enough to do that, she was somewhat glad that he could still be healed for the time being.

The Anclopolyp, sick of being beaten up on constantly, sent out a few polyps to distract them while it retreated into its shell. "Ignore the polyps and get that damn shell open!" Sirris yelled, retreating to cast Thunder Blade again. Her arte landed just before Jade's did, causing his little Flame Burst to become Explosion, which was the point where the Anclopolyp reopened his shell to blow bubbles at them.

Painful bubbles, as Luke quickly figured out, retreating a ways to assess his injuries and the others on the battlefield. Then he charged over to one of the polyps while telling Natalia to keep healing, as the smaller monster had attacked her. The blonde nodded thankfully and ran off a ways to cast Heal again. Sirris sent another Thunder Blade toward one of the other polyps, regretfully not killing it.

Luke finished the first of the three polyps and ran straight over to the wind FOF, but before he could use it himself, Natalia used it for Healing Wind. The redhead smiled as his body recovered and happily threw himself into the next task.

Once the three polyps were killed and all attention was back on the Anclopolyp, it didn't take them long to finish it. Finally, the large, aquatic monster fell. Jade wasn't too surprised when Sirris pulled out a vial and walked over to it, taking some of its blood before its fonons began separating, though most of the others were unnerved at the least.

Sirris stood and slipped the little vial into her pocket. "Okay. Time to go," she said simply, walking off a ways. Asch and the others stared after her for a moment before following. Luke, it seemed, was digging around for something in his bag. Tear walked over to him and crossed her arms.

"What are you looking for?" she asked. Luke looked up at her for a moment, but went back to rummaging before pulling out a small, red gel and swallowing it. "An Apple Gel? You were wounded?" she wondered. Luke nodded.

"I didn't want to bother you or Natalia," he told her. "Though I should probably go through my bag and reorganize it…" he added quietly to himself a little later. Sirris rolled her eyes at the exchange.

The group had just reached the edge of the cavern when the earthquake hit. Sirris and Luke dropped to one knee while the others did their best to stay standing. Tear and Natalia lost their balance, and Luke stood again to catch the melodist while Asch caught Natalia.

Once the earthquake had passed, Sirris sighed. "That was probably Southern Rugnica falling. It's about time," she muttered. Asch and Luke looked grave.

"Dammit… If we're not careful, St. Binah will be next," the replica said. Ion and Tear looked around, and it seemed that they weren't the only ones confused.

"You three seem to be rather informed about the situation," Jade commented. Asch scowled.

"I've been trying to figure out what Van's up to for a while now," he informed the colonel. "But… why…?" he trailed off, looking at Luke. The replica turned to Sirris, and the female redhead crossed her arms.

"Roran's been looking into Van's movements as well. The Sephiroth, the attack on the Tartarus… and Akzeriuth… most of it relates back to him. Although Asch ordered Choral Castle," she said, raising an eyebrow at the redhead in question after the last part of her comment.

"Do I even want to know why?" Jade asked. Sirris shrugged.

"How would I know? All I ever find out from him is what's left in the files he gives me, plus what I read between picking them up and getting home. And as I'm sure you're aware, reading is not my favorite pastime," she replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot you didn't like reading if it didn't involve monsters," the colonel said, though it was hard to tell if he was teasing or not. Sirris scowled.

"Shut up, asshole," she ordered, boarding the Tartarus. Asch and Luke exchanged a look, seemingly agreeing on something for once.

"She's in a pleasant mood," Guy said. Luke sighed.

"No. It's just Jade's fault," he told his friend before following Sirris. Jade feigned a hurt look.

"Luke, how rude to brush the blame off onto someone else's shoulders," he teased. But Luke tensed up and stopped, then turned around.

"I have enough blame on my shoulders right now. The least you can do is take what little bit you're actually responsible for," he said, voice somber. Then he left, following Sirris onto the Tartarus, and Jade was effectively silenced for the next few minutes while the group got in and prepared to leave.

"I want you to take me and Ion back to Daath," Anise informed Jade. The colonel nodded.

"Alright. We'll stop at Daath first, and then… Keterburg?" he asked, directing his inquiry to Sirris. The redhead nodded.

"Yeah… I'm in for it now for sure, but if nothing else…" she muttered, trailing off. Jade adjusted his glasses.

"Alright then. Let's get going," he suggested.

* * *

><p>"Dammit Luke, quit!" Sirris yelled as she slashed through a fish-like monster in irritation. The other redhead flinched.<p>

"It's stuck in my head," he whined. Sirris scowled.

"Well now you've got it stuck in mine. Happy?" she grumbled back. Luke chuckled nervously, not really wanting to incur her wrath. The two didn't make it very far before another duo caught up to them.

"Just a quick question? Whose idea was it to send the two of you, who are the faster fighters, together? This is a really unfair race," Guy asked, a teasing note in his voice. Sirris chuckled.

"I figured that if you were with Tear, she could heal you, since neither of us can heal… or really be healed, for that matter," she explained. "After all, what's that saying? Slow and steady wins the race?"

Luke and Guy laughed, and even Tear cracked a smile. Guy stopped for a moment. "You know, Sirris. You're actually pretty nice when you're not pissed off or on business," the blonde said. Sirris turned to look at him, and the look on her face became a barely-noticeable one of nostalgia.

"Thanks, Guy. I missed this," she told him, confusing her three companions. She rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Come on, let's go," she grumbled.

A few minutes later, she froze in her tracks and turned to glare at Luke, who was humming once again. The taller redhead trailed off mid-note, fear obvious in his eyes. "Um… Wasn't that the song that boy in the port was singing?" Tear asked. Luke nodded.

"It's stuck in my head, and I don't even remember half of the lyrics," he told her. Sirris growled and marched off, further into the caverns.

Almost an hour later, Luke was starting to fidget. "You don't think they left us, do you?" he asked. Sirris crossed her arms.

"I doubt it, but let's head to Daath Bay just in case. If the Tartarus is still there, we'll head down the road to Daath. We've been out here for almost three hours now, and it took us at least half an hour to get here," she thought out loud. Tear and Guy nodded.

"Great. You know the way back to the entrance, right?" the blonde swordsman asked. Sirris rolled her eyes, amusement flashing through them.

"Come on, Mister Can't-Find-North-When-Underground," she muttered. Guy started and stared after her in surprise as she walked away.

"Guy? What is it?" Luke asked, noticing the shocked look on his friend's face. Guy looked over at him and shook his head.

"It's nothing. Probably just my memory playing tricks on me," he replied. Luke crossed his arms, but followed Sirris without pushing the matter too much.

As the four of them emerged from the caverns, they found themselves being approached by an out-of-breath Jade. Sirris raised an eyebrow, not even bothering to glare at the man as her curiosity won out over her hatred of him. "Okay… Someone get me a piece of paper so I can write down this list of weird occurrences," she joked.

Jade rolled his eyes at her comment. "Kimlasca has already begun making preparations for war because of Natalia and Asch's supposed deaths. The two of them and Ion were captured upon entering the cathedral in Daath, where Ion had intended to issue a proclamation," he explained. "Anise is scouting out the situation in Daath right now. I came here to get your help."

Sirris's scowl fell back into place, accompanied by her trademark 'Jade glare.' Tear, Guy, and Luke however, nodded. "Alright, let's get going then," Guy suggested. They walked at first, because Jade was still slightly out-of-breath, but by the time they reached the bridge between Daath and the bay, they were running again.

They stopped outside Daath on Fourth Monument Hill. "So, that's Daath?" Luke wondered. Guy nodded.

"Yep. Ion, Natalia, and Asch are probably being held inside the cathedral," the other swordsman replied. Then he glanced over at Sirris and did a momentary double-take. Her blood-red hair had been covered by the same blonde wig she had worn as Aerys, and her eyes were quickly turning violet. She turned to them and smiled, shifting her weight onto her left foot.

"Wow… That's kinda creepy," Luke muttered. Sirris giggled, a sound that none of them had heard from her.

"Well, I figured that since you guys have been with Aerys before, you'd be less likely to screw up and call me Sirris if I wore this," she said, her voice lighter. Jade adjusted his glasses.

"Very well then, Aerys. Shall we be going?" he asked. 'Aerys' nodded, and the five of them headed down the hill. The dagger that was almost always hanging faithfully at Sirris's waist had been removed and slipped into the hidden sheath in her boot when no one was looking, while its normal sheath was hidden in her bag.

The group walked through the streets of Daath quietly, finally coming to a stop in front of the cathedral. "So they're in there?" Luke asked. Then a small girl with dark pigtails came running up to them.

"Hey! Glad you guys could… Aerys? But, I thought…" Anise left off. 'Aerys' giggled again.

"I'm in disguise," she explained. Anise frowned.

"I guess that makes sense… Oh, Ion and Natalia are being held in Oracle Knights Headquarters below the cathedral," she said. Luke frowned.

"Where's Asch?" he asked. Anise sighed.

"I'm not sure. No one seems to know exactly where he is, but I think he's been locked in the dungeons underneath headquarters," she said, expression grave. "All I know for sure is that if we don't find him in the next couple of days, he'll be executed for treason against the Order of Lorelei."

'Aerys' slipped into a distinctly Sirris stance to think. "I'll go find Asch then. The rest of you focus on Natalia and Ion," she decided, not even bothering to hide her voice. Jade and Guy looked at her in concern.

"Sir-Aerys… Are you sure?" Guy questioned her. Sirris nodded, determination in her eyes.

"Yeah. I did just fine on my own for seven years, I shouldn't have any problems alone for a few hours… or days, if it takes me that long," she told them. Then she turned to Luke. "If you have to leave Daath without me and Asch, then do so. You know where I'll come to find you," she told him. Luke nodded, and Jade sighed.

"Well, it seems that's taken care of then. Sirris… take care," he said. Sirris glared at him, her violet eyes flashing green and startling Guy again.

"Fuck off, bastard," she spat, walking up the steps to the cathedral, somehow managing to keep a light step. Luke and Anise stared after her, slightly amazed.

"Wow, Colonel. She really hates you, doesn't she?" Anise muttered. Jade sighed.

"I'm afraid that all of that hatred is well-deserved," he told her.

* * *

><p><strong>Tony: Okay, so I want to know.<strong>

**Why does Sirris hate Jade so badly?**

**Seriously. I've dropped you all plenty of hints. At least guess. You've got this chapter and the next to do so before it _all_ comes out. Anyone wanna try and figure out who drops the bomb on everyone? Because I will be more than happy to hear all about your theories… Just please review!**

**Kairi: -pops in and whispers something in Tony's ear-**

**Tony: …hmm… Now get out. –kicks Kairi out- Okay, I made up my mind. I'll update next chapter on schedule, but I won't update the chapter after that (Twelve… Reckoning) until the review count hits 20. We're currently at 13. –smiles- I shall see you all next week then. –poofs-**


	11. Chapter XI, Hearts of Ice

**Tony: So… I'm back. Thanks to all reviewers, responses are down at the bottom for Guests. Disclaimer's at the bottom to avoid a small spoiler… Not much else to say up here. Oh, and a quick apology for this chapter being shorter than the word count I'm trying to keep to for all of my chapters now on. I had to cut it off early…**

* * *

><p><strong>Bloody Nightshade<strong>

**Chapter Eleven**

**Hearts of Ice**

Sirris moved through the cathedral quietly, taking care not to be noticed by the higher-ups. She had caught a young woman heading… somewhere… and had knocked her unconscious before switching clothes with her. Or rather, putting the girl's clothes on and putting the girl into her brown dress.

She knew exactly where she was headed, because this wasn't the first time she had had to infiltrate the cathedral like this. But what concerned her most was that many of the Oracle Knights seemed to be elsewhere.

Sirris had just opened the door that led to the dungeons below the cathedral when she caught sight of a flash of red. She smiled as she watched Luke and the group walk past, but then Jade froze and pointed her out to the rest of the group. _'Shit! I'm wearing an Oracle Uniform and a different wig! They think I'm an enemy,'_ she realized, quickly moving out of the way of a Splash that Jade had sent her way.

She pulled her hat and wig off and glared up at them. Jade looked quite apologetic, but Guy simply looked confused. Sirris huffed as she slipped the nearly-black brown wig back onto her head and put the stupid little hat on over it. Her eyes shifted back to golden-brown before she stepped through the door she had originally intended to walk through.

She was only about halfway down to the dungeons when she encountered her first problem. He was roughly 5'5", had green hair, and wore a mask. _'Well, fuck.'_

"What do you think you're doing down here? Only Bravos and above are allowed to be this far down," Sync demanded of her. Sirris sighed and her eyes slipped back to their usual gold and silver. "You!" Sync spat, realizing exactly who she was.

Sirris scoffed. "Yes, me. Now, if you'd be so kind as to excuse me, I'm here for someone. Though I probably shouldn't just let you go," she grumbled. Sync slipped into a defensive stance.

"I'm not going to let you go either. You've caused enough trouble for us, you little brat," he told her. Sirris's eyes narrowed into a glare.

"Who are you calling a little brat? If either of us deserves the right to call the other that, it's me," she hissed. Then she crouched, letting her fingers brush against the floor. "Besides, there are a few things I'd like to ask you. If that means taking you captive, then so be it."

"Humph. Like you'd be able to," Sync scoffed. Sirris slipped her dagger out of the sheath hidden in her boot, the only part of her clothing that she had not taken from the Oracle Knight.

"Watch that big mouth of yours. It'll get you into a lot of trouble," she warned before shooting toward him. Sync spun around in a roundhouse kick that never connected. Instead, Sirris ducked under it and raised her knife, managing to just barely open a cut in his skin. She smirked and slipped the blade back into its sheath, then jumped out of the way.

Sync sent a Turbulence her way shortly after, but Sirris dodged it and came running in at him. The two of them participated in a bout of hand-to-hand combat for a few moments before Sync back-flipped out of the way…

And stumbled upon landing. His breathing was labored, and had Sirris chosen then to check his pulse, she would have been counting very, very quickly.

"What the hell…?" Sync hissed. Then his eyes found the scratch on the inside of his right leg. At first glance, it seemed like it was a normal scratch, but after just a moment of observation, Sync spotted the blue lines branching out from it like tree branches reaching away from the trunk. "Dammit… Your poison," he realized, noting how difficult it was getting to breath.

Sirris stepped over to him, and Sync tried to move away. He barely made it upright before he became dizzy and fell over once more, right into the assassin's arms. He felt more than saw a needle pierce his skin. Before long, Sync was unconscious, both Sirris's poison and her antidote rushing through his veins, courtesy of his still-rapid heartbeat.

Sirris carried Sync down to the dungeons and slipped him into an open cell, leaving him in the back where his dark clothes would make him less noticeable. Then, grabbing the keys she needed off of him, she headed further down after changing her eyes back to golden brown.

She was quickly getting frustrated when she caught sight of the crimson she was looking for. Smiling, she ran forward. Asch had his back to one side of his cell, staring up the way she came as if he were waiting for his executioner to come by… which he probably was, Sirris realized. He looked up when she stopped in front of his cell and narrowed his eyes.

"I thought that they didn't allow anyone under the rank of Bravo down here," he said. Sirris smirked.

"So I've been told," she said. "Now, shall we be going?" Asch looked at her for a moment before his eyes widened in shock.

"Sirris?" he wondered. She nodded, and he was on his feet in a moment. "Never thought I'd be so happy to see you," he informed her. Sirris rolled her eyes.

"Oh please. When are you ever happy to see anyone?" she countered, closing the cell and locking it again, though Asch couldn't fathom why. Then they headed back up toward the cathedral, making sure to stop and pick up Asch's sword while they were at it.

Sirris stopped in front of the cell she had left Sync in and froze, causing Asch to do the same. As the second occupant of the cell turned to look at them, Sirris let loose a string of curses. A group of Oracle Knights rounded the corner nearby.

"After them!" Legretta ordered. Sirris grabbed Asch's hand and started dragging him along, but he was running on his own in only a moment. Asch growled.

"Do I even want to know why Sync was laying in a cell unconscious?" he asked the girl ahead of him. Sirris sighed in frustration.

"He tried to stop me on my way down, so I kinda… poisoned him. I need some answers out of the idiot though, so I gave him the antidote. He'll live…" she told him. "But dammit… Why did Legretta have to show up?"

"Who knows… Ahh," Asch hissed, loosing his footing and falling to the ground. He was clutching his head though, something Sirris found strange… until she remembered the connection between him and the replica.

"There they are!"

Sirris glanced past Asch and scowled, then stepped in front of him to start casting. "You there! Get out of the way!" one of the Oracle Knights ordered her. Sirris rolled her eyes.

"Nah, I think I'll just continue being a pain in your asses. Thunder Blade!" she replied, dropping the arte into the middle of the group. Then she attack the still-standing five soldiers.

She had only managed to finish off two of the total ten when Asch joined her. "They got Ion and Natalia out of here. Now let's hurry before Legretta catches up to these guys," he told her, killing another two soldiers while Sirris finished off her third. A fourth dropped from her poison not a moment later, and she and Asch attacked the last four with a passion.

Then, as the ninth soldier fell, Sirris glanced up and groaned. "What was that about getting out of here before Legretta can catch up to us?" she muttered, pointing her dagger in the blonde God-General's direction. Legretta noticed and jumped down from the ledge, landing right in front of them and pointing her guns their way.

"Why don't you both surrender now?" she suggested. Then she turned most of her attention to Sirris. "It's bad enough you killed those two Maestros four years ago, but now Sync too?"

Sirris rolled her eyes. "I needed him alive, which meant giving him the antidote. He'll live," she told the woman. Then she settled into a defensive stance, her blue-bladed dagger held in front of her body. "Though I can't say the same about you if you interfere with us leaving," she added. Legretta was silent for a moment.

"Your friends have already taken Natalia and the Fon Master from the cathedral, haven't they?" she asked. Asch glanced over at Sirris, but the girl nodded. Legretta sighed and lowered her guns. "Get out of my sight," she ordered them. Sirris sheathed her knife and started running, Asch on her heels only because he didn't want to be left alone with Legretta.

"Why the hell would you—" he started.

"Because my eyes can't lie. Not when they're like this at least," Sirris interrupted him. Asch realized then that her eyes were gold and silver, a stark contrast to the golden-brown from earlier. "Legretta knew I was telling the truth about Sync. That's the only reason she let us go."

"Whatever. But we're stopping on Monument Hill to contact the replica," he replied. Sirris chuckled, choosing not to comment.

They made it out of the cathedral with little other problem. It was once they'd reached the edge of Daath, in the area between the city and the hill, that they found themselves in yet another unfavorable situation.

"I had heard they captured you. I didn't expect you of all people to rescue him though," Van said, first addressing Asch, then Sirris, who had somehow managed to change clothes on the run. Her red hair blew about in the wind.

"I felt like doing someone a favor. Now if you'll excuse us, we have other places to be," Sirris told him. Van raised an eyebrow.

"You seem to be in quite the hurry. Do I want to know what sort of trouble you've stirred up this time?" he asked. Sirris suppressed a smirk and walked past him, Asch on her heels, both cautious of Van.

"Ask Sync the next time you see him… If he's conscious by that point. If not, you can ask Legretta," she answered after they'd walked a ways past him. The two redheads were gone before Van could reply.

Once they were on Monument Hill, Asch closed his eyes and focused on the replica. 'Hey, dreck. Are you guys still in port?' he asked. The answer he received was not the one he wanted.

'No. And with Natalia and Jade so worried about the war, they're bypassing Keterburg in favor of going to Grand Chokmah to talk to the emperor,' Luke replied. Asch scowled.

"Jade's heading for Grand Chokmah. He's not stopping to let Luke off at Keterburg," he told his companion. Sirris sighed.

"We'll just head for Keterburg for now. We can catch up to them later… Tell Luke to stick with Jade. If that bastard continues to have his men stalk me, I can always interrogate one of the idiots to figure out where he is," she muttered. Asch relayed the order to Luke before closing the connection.

"So, we're getting on a ferry to Keterburg together… again," Asch said once they started walking. Sirris rolled her eyes.

"Shall we try to hack each other to pieces again? See if ends the same way it did last time?" she asked, sarcasm dripping from each word. Asch laughed.

"Nah. I think this time I'll kick your ass instead of landing on mine after a few hours," he replied, either not catching her sarcasm or trying to lighten the mood.

"You know… I don't think you'd succeed," she said, some of her negativity finally starting to drain away. The two traveled in silence for a while, finally arriving in port in the late evening as the sun dropped in the sky. After a very short bit of asking around by herself, Sirris pulled Asch to the side.

"Why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like this?" Asch mumbled. Sirris rolled her eyes and shoved a ticket in his hand.

"Get on the damn ferry… quickly now, it's leaving in a few minutes!" she told him. Asch sighed and did as he was told, deciding not to ask how she had gotten a hold of the ticket in his hand. He was standing up on the deck near the back when the ferry started to pull away. Then he spotted the dark-haired girl that was hiding with the boxes used for storage. Walking over, he was unsurprised to find that the girl had gold and silver eyes and looked much older than her size suggested.

"Not sure I want to know when you got up here," he muttered. Sirris smiled and shook her head.

"You don't."

To say that the ride on the ferry was uneventful would be an understatement. Sadly, the boredom would not last.

"Isn't that the Tartarus?" Sirris asked, pointing to a Malkuth landship nearby. Asch raised an eyebrow and approached the Malkuth soldier that seemed to be overseeing the ship.

"Excuse me," he said, catching the man's attention. The soldier looked startled.

"Wait, weren't you with Colonel Curtiss earlier?" he asked. Sirris scowled at the man's name and stepped forward, startling the man further. "Sirris?!"

"Where did Jade and Luke go?" she asked. He stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on.

"They went to the governor's house," he replied. "Might I ask why you need to know?" Sirris growled.

"My business is my own," she told him. Then, a rather demented laugh caught her attention.

"Well, well, what have we here? Asch, you never told us you had a girlfriend," Dist said. Sirris glared at the idiot in question.

"What the hell do you want, Reaper?" she hissed. Dist started in on one of his rants.

"Gah! It's ROSE, damn you! R-O-S-E Rose! Rose rose rose rose rose!" he chanted. Sirris rolled her eyes.

"Keep it up and I'll go back to calling you Ridiculous," she told him. That did an effective job of shutting the man up. "Why the hell are you here?"

Dist rested one arm on his chair and grinned. "The commandant isn't too pleased with you Sirris, poisoning one of the God-Generals, and Sync no less. Personally, I could care less, but I'm under orders to punish you for that. You're running out of time, aren't you? We'll see how angry your uncle is after this!" he jeered, unleashing one of his fon bots. Sirris rolled her eyes.

"Asch, keep that thing occupied," she ordered. Then she looked at the Malkuth soldier. "Get out of the way," she hissed. He happily obliged as she started drawing in fonons. "Arise, o violent waters, to rout mine enemies, Blessed Drops!"

The arte definitely slowed the fon machine down, leaving Asch free to Frigid Blast it a few yards away while Sirris started casting again. Dist wouldn't have that, however, and his fon machine interrupted her, despite Asch's best attempts at keeping it away from her. She hissed and started attacking the thing while Asch ran off to the side.

Since Sirris had taken over in the general 'hack-and-slash' category, Asch decided to throw a fonic arte in the machine's direction. His Icicle Rain missed it though, as it had attempted to belly-flop on top of his smaller companion. She growled and ran off to the side a ways, letting Asch take over on keeping it busy.

This time, her Blessed Drops was not interrupted. "Don't use the FOF!" she yelled as soon as she unleashed it. Asch nodded, pulling back from using Frigid Blast just in the nick of time as Sirris ran forward. She drew in the fonons and smirked as she opened her fonslots and released all of them at once.

Sirris ran forward and pulled out a Reaper's Toll on the machine before using the leftover fonons to draw even more in… including the seventh fonon. She settled into a casting stance so eerily similar to Jade's that Asch was caught off guard for a moment.

"O thou who wouldst deny redemption, open the gates of heaven and let loose the fury of thy sins," she chanted. Then, as the violet and white glyph around the machine glowed even brighter, Sirris pointed to the sky. "Final Judgment!"

A rain of fire and lighting fell upon the machine, destroying it utterly and completely. A large piece flew away from the machine and hit Dist, sending the man flying into the water a ways off.

"Well then… Shall we be going?" Sirris asked, popping an Orange Gel into her mouth. Asch laughed and nodded, and the two finally left the port.

Meanwhile, Jade, Luke, and the others were just reaching the governor's mansion. "So, how come you knew how to get here Luke?" Anise asked as they stepped inside. Luke shot a glance at Jade.

"Sirris dropped me here last time we were in Keterburg," he answered, gauging Jade's reaction carefully. If anything, Jade looked like he had expected that. Luke shrugged and stepped into the governor's office.

"Hmm? Oh, Luke, you're back," she greeted the redhead. He smiled, but Nephry's smile faded as she spotted the man who had entered her office last. She stood in shock. "Jade?! Oh, my brother's alive!" she cried.

Everyone, including Luke, did a double-take. "Brother?!" they all cried in unison. Jade adjusted his glasses.

"It's been a while, Nephry. Not since your wedding I believe," he said, pretending to ignore the surprised shouts of his companions. Nephry looked around the group.

"But… Wait, aren't you Asch then?" she asked Luke. He shook his head.

"No, it's me. Asch is with Sirris… They're supposed to be heading in this direction, but they might not make it until after the others have left," he told her. Nephry looked back and forth between Luke and Jade.

"Wait, that means you and Sirris would have had to be traveling together for at least a short while, right? Does that mean you've started making up?" she asked Jade after a moment. Jade adjusted his glasses.

"I'm afraid the answer to that question is a loud, resounding, NO," he replied.

"Loud enough to hurt Dist's ears back in the bay he decided to go swimming in?" Asch asked, stepping into the room. Jade raised an eyebrow, but Nephry was the next to speak.

"I see, you must be Asch then. But… where's Sirris?" she asked. Asch looked thoughtful.

"I have no clue," he replied. Nephry looked around, but her gaze settled on Jade once again.

"Jade, what happened at Akzeriuth? Everyone thought you'd been killed! Emperor Peony was the only who still had any hope that you'd survived," she asked. Jade adjusted his glasses and took a deep breath before beginning to explain. Finally, once the explanation had concluded, Nephry sighed.

"That's… hard to believe," she said. Then something caught her eye and she stood again. "Sirris?!"

Sirris froze where she had been attempting to open the door and slip back out again without Nephry noticing, choosing to slam her head into the wall. "Damn," she hissed. Nephry's face immediately went from shocked to… well, scolding.

"Sirris, that's rude," she said. Sirris rolled her eyes, but didn't remove her head from where it was temporarily fused to the wall.

"Yes. It's not nice to be rude to your elders," Jade commented. Then he froze, as if realizing the stupidity of choosing to comment then. Sirris whipped around and glared at him.

"Shut the fuck up!" she yelled at him before storming out of the room. A few moments later, the loud bang of the front door indicated that she had stormed out of the mansion as well. Luke raised an eyebrow.

"Is it just me, or was she more angry just then than she usually is?" he wondered. Jade flinched.

"It's not just you," he said quietly. Nephry had sat back down in shock at Sirris's language toward Jade. Her brother turned to look at her and sighed. "I told you she'd never forgive me." Nephry looked down at her hands in shock.

"I'm honestly starting to think that relations between the two of you have only gotten worse over the years," she muttered. "She's even been avoiding _me_ lately…" Then Nephry looked up at Jade. "You've got to do _something_ about this, Jade," she insisted. Jade adjusted his glasses, a motion that Luke was starting to tie to him being uncomfortable.

"What am I supposed to do, Nephry? I've tried talking to her, more times than I've been able to keep track of. She'll listen for a few minutes and then yell at me again before running off," he said, an emotion lacing his voice that the others had never heard before. Everyone in the room, with the exceptions of Asch and Nephry, froze in shock as they realized that it was depression.

"Whoa, Jade… You're actually really upset about Sirris's hatred for you, aren't you?" Anise asked quietly. Jade sighed, and Nephry's gaze became an almost half-hearted glare.

"You haven't told them, have you?" she asked. Jade closed his eyes.

"I'm not certain it's my place to tell them. So far as Sirris is concerned, I lost that right fifteen years ago," he told her. Nephry rolled her eyes with a frustrated sigh.

"Wait, what?" Guy asked confusion written across his face plain as day. Nephry turned to the others.

"Well, since my brother won't tell you, then I will. At the very least, Luke has a right to know," she said. "You see, Jade is…"

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><p><strong>Tony: Ho ho… How do you like THAT cliff-hanger? So, back to what I was saying last chapter, if you don't have enough hints to add the last two words to Nephry's sentence, then either you haven't been paying attention, or you're really dense. Also, my decision about updating still stands. I won't update again until the Monday AFTER I get the total review count to twenty… (Though since we're now at 17, that's only three, so I really don't think you guys'll have too much of a problem with it.) So… Disclaimer and then Guest Responses.<strong>

**I have no rights to Tales of the Abyss; it belongs to Namco. I also have no rights to Final Judgment, as it belongs to Kairi. All other OC's, made-up artes, and such things belong to me.**

**Guest Responses: Guest- …_only_ ten chapters in…? The outline only has about twenty-one chapters, give or take a couple depending on how I break it up. That's half of the way through already. And I don't want to be a 'review whore', heck, I don't really mind that I don't have that many reviews yet. It's the fact that only three people (excluding reviewers from last chapter) have spoken up. NINE of those thirteen reviews came from DAve and Bob… who is only ONE of my readers… By now, I would've thought that maybe five or six people would have spoken up at least once…**

**Leomitch- Cool name. And thanks, I intend to.**


	12. Chapter XII, Reckoning

**Tony: Well, this is an EXTREMELY short chapter, but considering everything that we learn… Yup. And it was really hard to write Sirris yelling at Jade, because I was really in-character and thinking from her POV and I was seriously in tears as I wrote it. (Yes, even men cry… especially when you're trying to put yourself in Sirris's shoes.) So… I might have to suggest a tissue for those of you who are more emotional.**

**Leon: On another note… We don't own TotA.**

**Tony: Yes… now… um… not sure I can tell you guys to enjoy this chapter. It's really emotional and stuff, so… Yeah. Oh, and there's some information down below because Leomitch asked a couple of really good questions the answers to which you might want to know. You should all thank Leomitch and Winx for reviewing, because Leomitch reviewed twice and Winx usually doesn't review. Now, then. Read.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

**Reckoning**

"Well, since my brother won't tell you, then I will. At the very least, Luke has a right to know," Nephry said. "You see, Jade is Sirris's father."

The silence that followed her statement was an extremely awkward one, followed by Guy stepping forward and demanding, "What the hell happened?"

Jade sighed. "Risa wanted to get away from her older brother. She found me in the bar in Grand Chokmah, we both got drunk, and we did a few things we shouldn't have. Five months later, she showed up on my doorstep, pregnant and covered in various cuts and bruises. I called a healer to take care of her, but when she begged me to take her and her…our child in, I turned her away," he explained.

"Risa came to me a couple weeks later and asked me to talk to my brother, change his mind. But Jade wouldn't listen to me either, or Emperor Peony, who supported Risa when he found out, even though he wasn't the emperor at the time," Nephry continued. "Jade was the only one in a position to take her in, but he wouldn't, so Risa was forced to return to her abusive brother."

"She ran away just before Sirris was born, and came back to Grand Chokmah. Risa died in childbirth, after naming Sirris and begging one last time that I take care of her," Jade added. Asch crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

"You gave her to Risa's brother when he came looking for his sister, didn't you?" he asked. Jade nodded.

"Yes. I never expected to see her again, but four years later, an extremely young child found her way to my mansion in Grand Chokmah. Her hair was just a shade lighter than Nephry's, and her eyes were a shade of green I hadn't seen since Risa had died," he explained. Guy looked back at Natalia and Asch, the latter of whom nodded. Jade hadn't noticed, however, and continued. "When I told Sirris that I wouldn't take her in, she started crying, and told me that she was going to go to Kimlasca, where I'd never be able to get her. She then told me she hated me and ran off."

"Topaz… No wonder she was in so bad a shape when we found her," Guy muttered. Jade raised an eyebrow.

"Topaz…?" he muttered. Asch sighed.

"Natalia, Guy and I were playing in Baticul when Natalia tripped over a girl that had been sleeping under the stairs. The description you gave us of Sirris as a child matches Topaz, which is the name the girl gave us. She told us she was an orphan though," the redhead muttered. Guy crossed his arms.

"Hang on… Didn't she and Duke Fabre get into… well, I wouldn't call it an argument… didn't he start yelling at her one time because of the red streaks in her hair?" he asked. Asch nodded.

"Yeah. She ran off and we didn't find her for three days. Then a week after that, that black-haired guy showed up and took her away… kicking and screaming if I remember correctly," he said. Jade closed his eyes again for a moment.

"Roran showed up on my doorstep six months after Sirris had asking after her. I told him what she had said about going to Kimlasca… He returned three weeks later with Sirris in tow. Her hair was streaked with red, and her right eye was gold, though her left eye remained green at that time," he told them.

"Pft, only for a couple of days," my quiet but venomous voice hissed. Everyone turned, surprised to see that I had, in fact, returned. "Figures… Nephry had to tell them to get you to start talking. Typical… coward."

I clenched my fists and turned, stepping out of the room and leaving everyone to wonder why I had even returned. Of course, keeping this many emotions bottled up inside of me wasn't going to end well, and knowing Lu—the replica… I'd be taking it out on him when he didn't even deserve it.

I ended up leaving town, heading out toward the cliff nearby. I needed to relax and get my mind off of that… that… monster!

I finally lost it and hit the ground… literally. Tears started streaming down my cheeks as I punched the cold, snow-covered ground relentlessly. Behind me, I heard footsteps crunching in the snow, but I didn't care who it was. Just so long as they left me alone.

Finally, as all of my anger fizzled out, I collapsed and just laid there in the snow, amazed that I had always hated it. It was so mind-numbingly cold… and that was just what I needed for once.

"You're going to catch a cold if you keep laying there, or something worse," the one voice I did NOT want to hear informed me. I glared at the bastard and got to my feet, drawing my dagger.

"Why should you care? You _knew_ what kind of a monster Roran was! You _knew_ that Mother didn't want him around her or her unborn child! And yet you _still_ kept turning her away! You turned _me_ away! And _worse_, you couldn't just let me go. You couldn't let me live whatever life I might have found in Kimlasca. You _told him where I was!_" I ranted. I knew he was in pain. I knew that he regretted what he had done. But _dammit_ I wanted my revenge on him.

"And then he started sending me out to kill people. He sent a seven year old _child _to _kill_ people! I ran to you then because I thought you might actually understand at that point! I thought you might realize that I _wasn't an adult_! I _wasn't a soldier_! I was a little girl who was scared to death of the blood on her hands! And you handed me right back over to him without even _considering_ how I _felt about all of it_!" I yelled. I knew what he saw. I didn't have to ask. I knew. My eyes were green, the same bright green they had been when I was a child.

I broke when I saw the tear slip down his cheek. I let out a bitter laugh. "Oh, _now_ you get it. _Now_ you're _finally_ starting to understand. Well guess what, _dad,_" I sneered. "You're seven years too fucking late!" I screamed at him. Then I threw my dagger at the ground near his feet. "And there's the proof. There's your evil, blood-stained proof that you've spawned a demon!"

And with that, I took off running.

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><p>Jade watched Sirris go, caught somewhere between shock and depression. She was headed north, back towards Mt. Roneal, though he had a feeling that she wouldn't be going back to Roran.<p>

Once she was out of sight, his eyes fell to the ground once more, to the dagger she had thrown to the ground. He knelt to pick it up. It was small, and he imagined that it had been quite beautiful once, before the blade had been stained blue with her signature poison. "Nightshade…"

Jade clenched his fist around the dagger's hilt, then stood, careful not to cut himself with the blade he now carried. His eyes traveled back over the mountain range to the north, and two quiet words slipped past his lips.

"_I'm sorry…"_

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><p><strong>Tony: Damn, Sirris, way to lay it on harsh. And poor Jade… I don't say that often, but I'm serious here. Poor Jade… Anyway, that concludes Part One of 'Bloody Nightshade,' which is the first part of my 'Bloodline' trilogy.<strong>

**Leon: He's already got a lot of hints about the second 'Bloodline' book in this story.**

**Tony: Okay, Leon? GO AWAY! –kicks Leon out- Ahem… I will NOT be updating next week, instead I will update the week after. And just to warn everyone, the summary will change when I update the next chapter. Also, Guest response(s):**

**(Leomitch)- Because you reviewed twice… 1: Popcorn and soda sounds really nice about now… 2: The relationship between Sirris and Luke is a Master-Apprentice relationship similar to the one Luke shared with Van in the game, even though Luke never calls Sirris 'Master'. (Thinking back on it, she probably threatened to kill him if he did.) There is no romance there at all. And about the picture of Sirris… -pulls Kairi in- Kairi, would you like to answer the second part of this review?**

**Kairi: Um… Oh… Actually I do have a bunch of pictures (all of Sirris' disguises, as well as a few of her normal outfits), but the one I want to put up first is of Sirris and Luke, but I'm in the process of redoing that picture. (It's of Luke in his new coat, too.) So I'll give those links to Tony once I've gotten them up on my DeviantART account.**

**Tony: And I will put them into my profile, with labels. Although I might use the one of Sirris and Luke as the cover…**

**Kairi: -whispers something to Tony-**

**Tony: Or that.**

**Kairi: You can use the one of Sirris and Luke until then though. –poofs-**

**Tony: Please review! Please! Don't make me do what I did last… two chapters, technically… Anyway, I'm out of here. –poofs-**


	13. Chapter XIII, Broken

**Tony: So… I'm a week late. I intend to update again next Monday, so you all have that to look forward to… And then… I really need to talk to Kairi, because I personally suck at battle scenes, whereas she is a master of them. (I'll be totally honest, I try to write one, and then I give it to her and she re-writes it for me…) So… I'm tired. I don't own Tales of the Abyss. Guest responses:**

**Leomitch- You're welcome. And honestly… You can ask Leon, I did kind of go insane when I wrote it. Kinda wish I'd have had an AK-47 though. Would have made things easier. And about that handkerchief… -hands two over- My friends have a strange sense of humor, so here, you can have part of my little 'collection'…**

**Tony: Okay… Go. Enjoy the chapter. Oh, and one last warning? There was a huge time skip between last chapter and this one. Don't wory, you'll figure it out pretty quickly.**

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><p><span>Bloody Nightshade<span>

Chapter XIII

Broken

Luke sighed as Asch and Anise got into yet another argument. He wasn't sure what exactly had sparked it this time, but he figured that it had to do with Ion going to Mt. Roneal. They still hadn't opened the Daathic Seal, so they did kind of need the green-haired boy, but the frozen, unforgiving mountain was not to be underestimated and Asch was uncomfortable about taking Ion there because he would be more of a hindrance than a help.

Then Luke's eyes found themselves locked on the sky as his memories returned to the last time he had been in Keterburg.

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><p><em>Jade walked into the hotel, obviously not in any condition to talk about what had happened. Luke was about to leave him to himself and his thoughts, but something caught his eye.<em>

'That's… Sirris's dagger…'_ Luke realized. He sighed and walked over to Jade, pulling something out of his newly-organized (thanks to Tear pestering him about it) bag. "Jade… Here," he said simply, holding out a sheath. Jade looked at it in shock, but slipped the dagger in before giving Luke a questioning glance. "Sirris had multiple daggers, though she usually only carried one on her. She always told me to have an extra sheath though," he said in way of an explanation before walking off._

"_Wait, Luke… Would you mind holding onto this for me?" Jade called after him a moment later. Luke looked back over his shoulder, an icy look in his eye that told Jade all he needed to know._

"_You're her father. Rather than brushing her off, try actually accepting that responsibility for once," Luke said coldly. Jade nodded and slipped the sheathed dagger into his pocket, his hand closing around the black leather._

"_You're right… I'm sorry," he said quietly._

_The next morning after arriving in port, argument broke out between original and replica._

"_I have to figure out what Van's up to! How the hell am I supposed to keep track of what these guys are doing if you're not with them!?" Asch yelled at Luke. The replica shot Asch a glare as he finished pulling his long hair through the elastic band Sirris had given him._

"_If you think I'm not going to keep an eye and ear out for what Van's up to while I'm by myself, you're mistaken. But Sirris left me something to do and I'm going to do it," Luke informed Asch quietly. "I'm breaking off from the group at Grand Chokmah," he added. Asch scowled._

"_Akzeriuth was Malkuth territory, and you were the one that destroyed it, dreck. So you're the one that needs to help with the evacuation of St. Binah, not me," he shot back. Luke thought for a moment, before pulling out a piece of paper and writing something down._

"_If you can find a girl named Shuro, give that to her. It'll move the evacuation along much faster," he said. Asch glared at Luke, ignoring the paper altogether._

_Guy and Natalia, on the other hand, were doing their best to stifle their laughter behind Jade and Tear, respectively. They were failing badly, and Asch finally rounded on them._

"_Shut up!" he hissed. He glared back at Luke before sighing and snatching the paper. "Fine," he grumbled. "But the sooner you're done with whatever you're doing, the better. I have things to look into."_

* * *

><p>Luke let his eyes fall back to the argument that was currently going on. As of that moment, Asch was outnumbered three-to-one, as Ion, Anise, and, surprisingly, Tear were on the side against him. Luke sighed and walked over to Jade. It had been almost four months since Sirris had last been spotted… Sadly, that sighting had been as she ran through Keterburg after Jade had spoken with her. Even Jade's soldiers, who were skilled at tracking the redhead down, couldn't locate her, and Jade and Nephry were beginning to lose hope that she could be found.<p>

Jade had been devastated after Sirris had left. No one was quite sure what the problem was, either. Sure, he kept up his normal, sarcastic façade, but whenever Luke met up with the group to give them a status report, he would retreat into his own thoughts.

Now was no different. With Asch injured after a particularly stupid encounter with Van, Luke had joined forces with the main group to help them get past the dangers of Mt. Roneal. And Jade was utterly silent.

"Hey…" Luke said quietly. Jade started slightly, showing Luke just how distracted he was. Then Luke noticed the blade in Jade's hands. "You know… I'm not sure which is easier…" he continued. "Destroying a whole town on a psychopath's orders and taking responsibility for it… or being told that your daughter is a monster by said daughter before she runs off after you've brushed off taking responsibility for her for so long."

"…" Jade slipped the dark blue blade back into its sheath and put it back into his pocket. "You followed us out…" he muttered. Luke shook his head though.

"No, Mieu did. I noticed he was gone after you left, and when he came back in I questioned him and made him promise not to tell anyone else," he replied. "I think you're in a worse position than I was in though… I'm actually kinda glad Sirris taught me the meaning of responsibility. I won't say that I was prepared to take the responsibility of Akzeriuth onto my shoulders, but since I didn't fight it, I caused a lot less pain."

"For yourself and for those around you," Jade whispered, as if quoting someone. Then he sighed and turned his eyes to the sky, just as Luke had done earlier. "Risa… Why must you always be right…?"

Luke decided to leave Jade alone with those thoughts and headed back over toward Ion, Tear, Anise, and Asch.

"He'll get himself killed if you take him up there!" Asch was still adamantly protesting. Luke rolled his eyes and was about to comment, but then an all-too-familiar voice spoke up, beating him to it.

"Oh jeez… I think now would be a wonderful time for me to step in here and break up this circuitous argument that is gradually boring me to death." Almost everyone's eyes turned to Ion, the exceptions being Jade, who was lost in thought, and Luke, who seemed to be staring at a plant.

"I didn't say anything," Ion stated, obviously just as baffled. Luke sighed playfully.

"Of course you didn't," he said, almost sarcastically. Then he jumped forward and started tickling the decorative bush…

"Aiyeeeee! LUUUKEEE!"

"Um, I don't think bushes are supposed to squeal like that," Anise stated before Luke managed to tickle part of the bush off… "Wait a second…"

Everyone, Jade included now, stared in shock at Luke and the green-haired boy who was protecting his left side, likely from more tickling.

"Hello, Valon," Luke said casually.

A rather rude string of words came out of the boy's mouth, and Anise stared in shock at Ion before realizing that they weren't his words. "Wh-whoa… is he…?" she managed to ask.

Sure enough, Valon stood and turned around, revealing a face identical to Ion's in every way except for the nasty-looking scar running down his left cheek. As Valon's bangs fell back into place, however, the scar was covered up.

"Hey there, Seven," he greeted Ion. The Fon Master recovered from his shock and nodded with a smile.

"Hello… I'm afraid I'm not sure which one you are though," he replied. Valon smirked.

"I'd be Six," he informed his fellow Ion replica. Looking around, Valon gestured to Luke. "Did he tell them or did you?" he asked. Ion looked at Luke in slight shock.

"How long have you known?" he asked the redhead. Luke scratched his head.

"Remember that business I had back in Grand Chokmah?" he said.

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><p><em>Luke took a deep breath and pushed the door open, then sat down at the bar and waited.<em>

"_Can I get you something?" the bartender asked him. Luke nodded and leaned forward ever so slightly._

"_Yes, please. Curry, and a little cabbage on the side," he told him. The bartender's expression became somber as he nodded. Luke fiddled with the edge of his coat, as if he was impatient to eat. In reality, he was still reciting Sirris's instructions in his head. Go to the bar, order curry with 'a little cabbage on the side', drop the time into the bowl inconspicuously, go upstairs and sit in the second chair from the end closest the stairs at the appointed time, and give the letter to Raven, who is supposed to do all the rest._

_Luke stopped playing around with his jacket as the bartender brought his food with a napkin. Absolutely nothing looked out of the ordinary, but Luke knew better. Carefully and inconspicuously, he removed the rice paper from the napkin, memorized the date and time, and slipped it into his bowl, where it dissolved._

_After checking on Guy, who had been taken over by a curse slot earlier in the day, and managing to get the group off his ass again, Luke checked into a room at the inn and stayed the night there._

_Early the next morning, Luke was sitting in the second seat at the upstairs bar in Grand Chokmah, absentmindedly stirring a frozen coffee, much as Sirris had done before him. He was unsurprised when a man tapped his back and led him to a table in the back of the bar, where a man with black hair and strikingly violet eyes was sitting._

"_I don't think I've ever seen you here before. Running errands for one of my guild members?" the man asked. Luke shrugged._

"_Honestly, I wouldn't know. She keeps me out of the loop until she deems it necessary I know," he told the man, taking care not to mention Sirris's name, as she had instructed him not to. The man raised an eyebrow._

"_Oh?"_

_Luke handed over the letter Sirris had left for him to give to Raven, whom he assumed was this man. Raven took the envelope and opened it, reading it quickly and quietly. Luke found it difficult to read his emotions. At first, he had seemed bored, but as he read, the boredom dissipated into an icy shield that Luke couldn't see past._

_Raven stood after reading the paper what had to have been at least twice. "Come on, Luke," he said simply. Luke followed him with absolutely no idea where they were going._

_After wandering down more alleys and side streets than Luke thought Grand Chokmah had, Raven stopped in front of a door and let Luke in, closing it behind them. The hallway the duo found themselves in was very long, and Raven ignored all of the doors along it, instead heading straight for the large door at the end._

_As they stepped in, Luke realized that they were in a training arena, and that they were no longer alone. Down below, a pink-haired girl with golden eyes and a green-haired boy were sparring. After only a moment of Raven and Luke watching, the boy was thrown onto his back as the girl tripped him._

"_Ah! It's not fair if you keep tripping me like that, Toni!" the boy grumbled in a voice that seemed extremely familiar to Luke. The girl crossed her arms, but Raven was the one to respond._

"_You should be able to avoid her attempts at tripping you, Valon. That's why I had you train with her this week. Her fighting style is radically different than mine or Bastion's," the dark-haired man explained. "Toni, take a break. Luke, why don't you spar with Valon for a bit? I'll have to go find that damn paperwork."_

_Luke shrugged and headed down into the arena, but froze as Valon turned around with his bangs brushed out of his face. "Ion?"_

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><p>"Valon told me about the seven replicas of Ion, and that you were the seventh and Sync was the fifth. Apparently, the second and fourth replicas are still alive too," Luke finished explaining. Valon crossed his arms from where he was standing against the wall.<p>

"Last I heard, Two is somewhere in Baticul, while Four is in Nam Cobanda," he added. Ion's expression was difficult to read.

"One's fonons separated, correct? But what happened to Three?" he asked. Valon sighed.

"Aside from you and Two, Three was the only other one who could read the Score. Mohs pushed him beyond his limits to learn the last of the sixth fonstone Score, and his fonons separated from the stress," he explained. Ion looked sad.

"Then there are only four of us left," he said. Valon raised an eyebrow.

"What happened to Sync?" he wondered. Guy explained their mission in the core quickly. "Ah… I really wish Van hadn't gotten a hold of him. That bastard's the reason Sync was like that. Ellie's cold-hearted, but even she's gotten over Mt. Zaleho."

"Wait… Now I'm confused," Asch butted in. "She?" Jade gave Valon a strange look, but chose to speak up for the first time since he had appeared.

"The reason why most replicas are weaker is that some of the replica data doesn't work correctly during that particular use. The same data that creates a physically weak replica with all of the abilities of its original could create a perfectly healthy replica with those same abilities, but with the second of those hypothetical replicas, it could either be missing a Y chromosome, or it could have an extra, resulting in its gender being flipped," he said. Valon and Luke exchanged a look, but while Valon rolled his eyes, Luke crossed his arms.

"In other words, the second Ion replica lost the Y chromosome and ended up female," the redhead deduced. Jade and Ion nodded.

"Yes. Actually, the hypothetical replica Jade was referring to was quite accurate. Mohs almost stopped creating replicas after Ellie was born because of how physically strong she was and how close her abilities were to the original, but when he found out that she was actually female, he started again," Ion added.

"Well, now that we're totally off-topic…" Asch muttered. Ion and Valon exchanged a look before Valon turned to Asch.

"Barring Luke tickling me anymore, it should be safer for me to go than Ion. I can open the Daathic Seals too… Actually, the only ability of the original's that I don't have is reading the Score," he explained. Asch looked over at Ion, who seemed to agree with his fellow replica.

"Alright. Try not to cause too much trouble," he said, walking over to the elevator. Ion sighed.

"Be careful," he said to Valon. The other green-haired boy rolled his eyes.

"Shouldn't I be telling you that? You're the magnet for trouble," he replied. "Besides, I can take care of myself. How'd you think I got here?" Luke chuckled at his enthusiasm.

"Alright. It looks like everyone's back. Are we all ready to go then?" he asked, looking around. Everyone nodded, and it seemed that Jade was able to collect himself once again.

The group set out for Mt. Roneal, with Valon in place of Ion and Luke in place of Asch. Their fighting force, however, was up one, as Valon was a skilled marksman. The first battle was much easier than they had expected, but Tear and Guy attributed that to Luke and Valon, who were both stronger than the rest of the party members.

After a couple of battles, they adopted a very handy formation that made taking out monsters even easier. Luke was up front with Guy right next to him. Valon and Jade brought up the rear, while Natalia, Tear, and Anise stayed in the middle, casting and, in Natalia's case, attacking from further away.

As they reached the mountain, Jade stopped for a moment, staring up at something.

"Hmm… Jade, is something wrong?" Valon asked, noticing that he had stopped. The rest of the group stopped and waited for the two stragglers. Jade sighed and shook his head.

"It's nothing… I just thought I saw…" he muttered. Luke's eyes followed relatively the same path Jade's had, and for a moment, the whole group was gazing up at what appeared to be a high mountain path.

"Come on. We've still got to get to the Sephiroth," Luke reminded them. Jade nodded, and the group started moving again. The sun was already falling in the sky, and they were running out of time.

"Hey!"

"Luke, don't just run off like that!" Guy called after his friend. Luke stopped as he reached a patch of ice and looked up. Jade, too, had noticed what Luke had, and wasn't too far behind him.

"I knew I hadn't been seeing things," Jade muttered, though Luke had difficulty deciding just what emotions were lacing through his voice. One of them, the redhead was certain, was relief. But there also seemed to be a reluctance to admit that he was right, as if a part of him had been hoping that he was wrong.

"What on earth did you two see that you had to go chase after it so badly?" Natalia asked. Luke and Jade exchanged a look.

"Sirris is here," Jade informed them. "Somewhere above us… She, Luke, and Asch are the only ones with hair that shade of red."

"The passage ring should be up above. We can keep an eye out for her as we go," Valon suggested. Jade nodded, and the group left, though a few of them noticed a slight difference. Only Valon and Luke, however, were able to figure out what it was.

'_Jade is… actually smiling again…'_ Luke thought, amazed. Then he rolled his eyes. _'Of course… He's trying to make up for what he's done to Sirris, but he can't do that if he can't find her. At least now he's got a little hope.'_

"Is that… the wind?" Guy asked, stopping for a moment.

"It sounds like a woman crying," Tear added. Jade turned his head up and listened as well, before adjusting his glasses and smiling in a rather teasing way.

"There's an old story about a woman who died in these mountains. Would you like to hear it?" he asked. Guy and Tear gave him a strange look, as if noticing for the first time that the almost-playful light in his eye had returned.

Anise and Natalia, however, were oblivious to this. "Oh! I love those kinds of stories!" the princess cried happily. Anise nodded as well, but Tear's eyes had gotten big.

"We don't have time for this. Let's get going," she said, though not without the slightest hint of a stutter in her voice. Anise looked over at her.

"Hmm…? Tear, don't tell me you're afraid…?" Natalia voiced the Fon Master Guardian's thoughts. Tear stepped forward in an almost-angry manner.

"I'm not scared of anything! So let's go!" she grumbled back to them. Luke and Valon exchanged a look and rolled their eyes.

Almost an hour later, the group stopped again. "Is that the wind again?" Tear asked. Luke gestured for everyone to be quiet and looked to Valon, whose eyes were closed as he spoke quietly.

"They'll be headed for the passage ring… If they brought Ion up here… It's no matter. We can't let them stop Van… But Ion… We won't let the Fon Master get hurt, Arietta… We'll have to be careful though… That's right. My friends said that there's a bunch of snow above us that could collapse at any time… We'll have to make the battle short then… Don't worry. That's why I'm here, isn't it?... I thought you were going to wait up above… They're not too far down the mountain. I came down here to tell you to shut up. I'm heading up again now… Alright. Let's get out of sight ourselves…"

A few moments later, Valon's eyes opened. "Everything's silent again," he said. Luke crossed his arms.

"That was kind of hard to follow…" he muttered. Valon sighed.

"There were four voices, two male and two female. The second male didn't jump in until the end, and the first male barely spoke. It was mostly the elder of the two females," he explained. Tear's eyes hardened.

"Major Legretta…" she muttered. Guy nodded.

"She, Arietta, and Largo must be waiting for us. But who was the fourth person? It couldn't have been Van, could it?" he asked. Valon shook his head.

"No. I know Van's voice well, and that definitely wasn't it," he said. Jade sighed.

"Well, I suppose there's nothing else to do. We knew we'd have to fight them eventually… I just hope we don't bring the mountain down on ourselves," he said. The others nodded, and they got moving again.

As they finally got above the major cloud cover, where it wasn't snowing nearly as much, they found themselves on a large ledge. Luke froze when he spotted something in the snow.

"Guys, watch out. People have been here," he informed them. Valon crouched.

"Not just people… Monsters that aren't native to these—argh!" he jumped out of the way of a flying monster. "…What the fuck…?"

"Gloomietta!" Anise yelled, pointing at a pink-haired girl. Arietta clutched her doll tightly.

"Ion… Get out of the way!" she yelled. Valon sighed, genuine remorse crossing his countenance.

"Arietta… I'm sorry, but I'm not Ion," he told her, drawing his guns as Largo landed next to Arietta and Legretta joined them. "I won't hesitate to kill you either."

"Major Legretta!" Tear cried. Legretta looked over at Tear sadly.

"I won't give up on Van's vision," she told her. "We will stop you!"

Luke looked around quickly. "And how do you intend to do that? You're outnumbered and outmatched," he informed her. Her gaze was redirected to him.

"Perhaps, but if we can take out the weakest link in the chain, the rest will fall quickly," she replied. Then, an almost inaudible noise reached Luke's ears.

In less than a second, Luke reacted, recognizing it as the sound of a knife flying through the air even as he drew his own dagger and turned. He knew he was too late when he saw where the deadly blade already was in relation to the one still in his hand, but he had to try!

His efforts were meaningless, as his dagger flew past the one approaching Jade's unprotected back.

Then, with a quiet clang and a thump, the would-have-been-fatal knife fell to the ground, forced there by an eerily familiar though not dark blue-stained blade.

Standing a ways off was a man with black hair and neon green eyes, a scowl plastered on his face from the failed assassination attempt.

And standing defensively between Roran and Jade was a familiar redhead.

* * *

><p><strong>Tony: Okay, so… about the second flashback… you all might (or might not) remember back to the end of Chapter VI – Finding Patterns, where Sirris was talking to Raven. Next chapter, or maybe the chapter after it, a big argument breaks out over the paperwork Raven mentioned this chapter, so you all have that to look forward to… (And, as a reference to Kairi's 'A Spatial Tear' in honor of her surviving the first month of school, it <span>does<span> involve Asch getting hit over the head with a frying pan… Which is something else to look forward to, considering who ends up wielding the thing.)**

**Leon: Anyway… Why do I even pop in here if I'm not in any of your stories?**

**Tony: I don't know. It's not like I invite you. But would you like to make a guest appearance here?**

**Leon: …Sure…**

**Tony: Okay. That solves one more problem. So… Please leave a review on your way out.**

**Please?**

**l**

**V**


	14. Chapter XIV, Split

**Tony: Blah... I had two weeks for this one and it turned out like crap. And half the length it was supposed to be. So apologies in advance. (Kairi was having crap going on, so she couldn't help with the battle scene. I ended up rewriting it four times...) Oh well... Anyway, I'm only going to update every other week, because it's a pain in the butt to keep up with this story when I've only got one week for each chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own.**

**Tony: Okay... I'm tired, so go enjoy...**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Bloody Nightshade<span>**

**Chapter XIV**

**Split**

"Perhaps, but if we can take out the weakest link in the chain, the rest will fall quickly," Legretta replied to Luke's question. Then, an almost inaudible noise reached the redhead's ears.

In less than a second, Luke reacted, recognizing it as the sound of a knife flying through the air even as he drew his own dagger and turned. He knew he was too late when he saw where the deadly blade already was in relation to the one still in his hand, but he had to try!

His efforts were meaningless, as his dagger flew past the one approaching Jade's unprotected back.

Then, with a quiet clang and a thump, the would-have-been-fatal knife fell to the ground, forced there by an eerily familiar though not dark blue-stained blade.

Standing a ways off was a man with black hair and neon green eyes, a scowl plastered on his face from the failed assassination attempt.

And standing defensively between Roran and Jade was a familiar redhead.

"Sirris…" Jade muttered. Roran's scowl disappeared.

"Humph… And here I thought you'd thank me for that. But look now, you're glaring at me," he mocked Sirris. "What's the matter? When did Little Monster become Daddy Monster's little girl?"

The next thing any of them were aware of, Sirris, a seemingly red blur, was standing next to Roran, ready to stab the dagger she had pulled from the ground into his side. Roran wouldn't have that however, as he knocked Sirris away, back towards Jade.

Then all hell broke loose.

Legretta began firing on Tear and Luke almost immediately, while Largo ran forward to engage Guy in combat. Natalia jumped back and began firing on the large man, as Anise charged up an arte to send toward Arietta, who was preparing an arte of her own. Valon was also charging up an arte to throw into the fray.

Sirris, Jade, and Roran were locked in their own battle, seemingly separate from the others.

"You're pathetic!" Roran hissed at Jade, managing to get behind him. The Malkuth colonel whipped around, thrusting his spear at the dark-haired man, but Roran was already moving away, more due to Sirris's knife than his spear. The small redhead feinted to the left, then spun around to hit Roran on his right side. Her attack was blocked, but a short slash appeared across Roran's chest as Jade ran past.

"A sadistic bastard maybe, but pathetic? Even I'm not that stupid," Sirris grumbled at Roran as she jumped away. She charged in again almost immediately, then shot a glance at Jade. For just a moment, their eyes met, and it was long enough for Sirris to get the message.

_'Keep him occupied.'_

Roran seemed quite content to try to tear Sirris's guts out, much as he seemed to be failing. The redhead knew what she was doing, and she kept Roran's eyes on her as the two of them participated in their little dance.

Then the glyph appeared around Roran's feet, trapping him in place as Sirris back-flipped out of it.

"I, who stand in the full light of the heavens, command thee, who opens the gates of hell. Come forth divine lightning," Jade chanted. "Indignation!"

Roran's face was screwed up in pain as he collapsed, but before either Jade or Sirris could approach him, he pushed himself to his feet. Valon and Luke, who had watched the mystic arte hit him, exchanged glances.

"They're screwed," Valon said simply. Luke rolled his eyes and swung his sword around in a large arc to attack Largo, who had decided to attack them while they were distracted.

Sirris scowled and charged at Roran. "Jade, Infernal Prison, now!" she yelled at her father. Jade nodded and stepped back, charging up the arte. Roran laughed.

"Oh, how helpful of you, Sirris. I fail to see how that's going to help you now," he taunted. Sirris glared at him.

"Watch me," she hissed back, lashing out with her dagger. Roran retaliated by throwing one of his knives at her, which she dodged. As Sirris attacked again, a short, all-too-familiar flash heralded the arrival of another playing piece.

Sirris cried out in surprise as Roran's sword slashed across her abdomen. She hissed at the poison that was coursing through her veins already. Certainly, it wouldn't kill her, but it would definitely hurt, and Jade had no such protection against that poison.

"Infernal Prison!" Jade yelled. Sirris growled. She had been so preoccupied by Roran that she hadn't heard Jade's chant. She ran forward, drawing in the leftover fonons from the arte. Roran hadn't moved fast enough and had been caught on the edge of the arte.

Sirris released all of the fifth fonons in one blast, knocking Roran back. She then settled into an eerily familiar casting stance that had Jade frozen in shock.

Another glyph appeared around Roran's feet, trapping him inside. "O thou who wouldst deny redemption, open the gates of heaven and let loose the fury of thy sins," Sirris chanted as the seventh fonons she was drawing in healed her body. "Final Judgment!" she cried as fire and lightning rained down upon Roran. The black-haired man cried out this time, collapsing once more.

"Is he dead yet?" Valon asked sarcastically. Roran was already getting up, but this time it was obvious that they were wearing him down. Likewise, Arietta, Largo, and Legretta were still standing, though they were in worse condition that Roran.

And then Sirris let loose a few choice curse words. "And down comes the mountain," she grumbled as the earth beneath them began to shake. Everyone looked up.

"Damn it! The battle caused an avalanche!" Jade yelled. Before any more could be said, the snow collapsed and took them with it.

* * *

><p>A man with silver hair stood in the shadow of a cliff. Whenever the sun glinted off of it, his hair seemed to be streaked with a darker silver, but it was only an optical illusion.<p>

Nearby, two people laid unconscious. One was an adult male, with long, honey-brown hair. The other was a young girl whose red hair matched the color of blood. The silver-haired man wasn't quite sure what to do with them. He couldn't carry them both. He had already healed their injuries. And he didn't have the strength to move them the other way. But there was no way he was going to leave them to the mercy of the monsters in the area.

So what was he going to do with them? Staying here under the cliff didn't seem like the most intelligent idea either, after that avalanche earlier. Had these two gotten caught up in it? Was that why they were down here?

The girl was the first to move, and the silver-haired man froze, not daring to startle her. He had learned the hard way about what could happen if you startled someone outside of the towns, and the dagger at her hip had been in perfect condition. The man hadn't seemed to be armed, but then, the girl could have been hired to protect him.

The girl's eyes interested the silver-haired man as she opened them and looked around. One was silver, but the other was the color of liquid gold. Those eyes examined him carefully before taking in the man next to her for a moment. The silver-haired man was rather surprised when he saw hatred flash across her face. Then the girl stood and turned to him again.

"Who are you?" she asked. The silver haired man nodded to the still-unconscious man on the ground.

"Why don't I explain once he's conscious. Can you walk? I'd rather not stay under this cliff after that avalanche earlier," he suggested. The girl rolled her eyes.

"Come on then," she grumbled. The man picked up her unconscious companion and carried him as the girl led them out of the ravine. They had just spotted the exit when the mountain started shaking again. The girl's eyes were focused on the mountain above them, but nothing came crashing down on them and the trio continued.

Or rather, they were about to continue when the girl's companion began stirring. The silver-haired man set him on the ground as he woke.

"Tch. About time you woke up," the redhead grumbled. The man looked up at her, confused, then looked around. Confusion still written across his face he looked up at the girl again.

"Who are you?" he asked quite simply, though the tone of voice told the silver-haired man that he didn't want to ask. The redhead's glare intensified for a moment before softening.

"Who are you?" she echoed. The man opened his mouth for a moment, then closed it. The redhead smacked her forehead. "Oh, Lorelei and Yulia help me, the son of a bitch has amnesia."

The silver-haired man watched the exchange with an ever-growing sense of curiosity. "Hmm… I want to say 'Jade'," the brown-haired man said, still confused. The girl sighed.

"Yes, your name is Jade. I'm Sirris," she grumbled. Then she shot a look at the silver-haired man.

"Hmm…? Oh, I'm Kumo… But please call me Cloud," he said. Jade looked around.

"Are we… on Mt. Roneal?" he asked. Sirris nodded, and Jade mimicked the action. "I remember this place… How old am I?" Sirris groaned and sat down to bury her face in her knees.

"You're thirty-five, asshole," she informed him. Cloud glanced at Jade.

"For some reason, that hurt my chest more than it actually offended me…" the older man stated. Sirris's head shot up as she let loose a glare on Jade that had Cloud frozen in shock. Her eyes were an acidic green, just a shade lighter than emerald.

Sirris stood and slammed her fist down on Jade's head, knocking him out again. Cloud sighed.

"You know, I was actually starting to get tired of carrying him."

* * *

><p>Asch was bored. And when Asch was bored, he was hell to be around. So of course, Ion wasn't having very much fun. The green-haired boy sighed.<p>

"Asch, why don't we go walk around for a while? I'm sure the others will be back soon enough," he suggested. The redhead sighed and followed the replica out of the room, not really interested in what was happening around him.

That lack of interest would put him into a world of hurt half an hour later…

Asch and Ion were standing in the middle of the road. Probably not the smartest idea in itself, but there weren't too many people around. They were watching two groups of kids having a snowball fight when something else caught their attention.

"Hey, what is that girl doing?" Ion asked. Asch followed his finger to the girl in question and rolled his eyes.

"She's just being an idiot," he informed the Fon Master. Ion sighed.

"It looks like she's juggling those frying pans, actually," he said. "Although… she's getting a little wild with them…" he added, just as one flew overhead to land smack in the middle of the 'battlefield' with the handle sticking straight up in the air. Asch crossed his arms and looked at the frying pan in the snow, waiting for it to fall over.

He was so preoccupied watching the slowly tilting cooking equipment that he didn't notice the girl running up behind him…

"Ow!"

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to smack you with my frying pan!" the girl from earlier was apologizing. Asch glared at her.

"Watch where you're swinging those things!" he yelled. She bit her lip.

"I didn't mean to… You were the one standing in the middle of the road anyway," she replied. Asch crossed his arms.

"You shouldn't be throwing those things around, anyway! They're meant for cooking, not doing tricks," he scolded. The girl's frown immediately turned into a grin.

"Oh, but I can cook with them too! All three at once!" she said. Then she became a little more serious. "But I'm really sorry about hitting you with one." Asch's scowl simply deepened.

"Why don't you go home where there are less people to injure with those things?" he suggested. Ion sighed.

"Asch…"

The girl glared right back at him. "You're a big meanie. I'm not gonna cook for you until you apologize," she told him. Asch scoffed.

"I wouldn't want to eat anything you've cooked anyway," he said. The girl growled, then jumped up and hit him right over the head with one of her frying pans.

"Meanie!" she yelled, before taking off after the other frying pan. Asch was left to rub his head while Ion stood there, partially embarrassed, partially sympathetic.

"What the hell…?" Asch grumbled. "Why she have to hit me again?"

* * *

><p>Luke sighed and sat down. There was no use in worrying about those two. They were probably headed back to town… like this group should be.<p>

Valon joined the redhead on the edge of the cliff. "Any ideas as to what we should do?" he asked Luke. The redhead looked up at the sky.

"If Jade and Sirris survived that avalanche, they'll be headed back to Keterburg. There's nothing that the two of them can do at the Sephiroth alone," Luke replied. "Which means we need to find it and finished what we came here to do."

"Luke's right," Tear said from a few feet away. Natalia, Guy, and Anise looked up. "We need to find the Sephiroth and finish this. Then we can focus on Jade and Sirris."

Guy sighed but stood, and Natalia and Anise did the same. "Alright then. Any ideas where that Sephiroth is, then?" Guy asked Valon. The green-haired boy stood and looked around.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say we're standing right on top of it…" he stated. Anise was looking around too, and after a moment, she pointed at something.

"Hey, would that help us?" she asked. Luke looked to what she was pointing at and smiled.

"Let's go find out," he decided. The group descended the thin path and found themselves standing in front of a rather decorative-looking door. Valon stepped forward.

"Yup. This is definitely the passage ring," he informed the others. He held his hands out in front of him and the Daathic Seal fell away.

The group of six headed into the passage ring, wary of what they may find.

* * *

><p><strong>Tony: Okay, so... Guest Response...<strong>

**Leomitch-**** I was starting to wonder where you'd gotten off to... Haha... well, actually it's more Sirris and Roran, but oh well... Um... -backing away slowly- Don't kill anyone yet... Give me... three chapters. THEN you can kill me... Or General Nordheim... Or Emperor Peony's council... (Preferably not me...)**

**Tony: ...So you know, I'd actually been planning that 'Asch gets hit with a frying pan by a total stranger' thing since... well, whichever chapter ended with Luke running after Sirris. (AKA, the Choral Castle chapter.) It was better written in my head... But I'm not having that great a week, so I might just rewrite it later. And if anyone's wondering about Jade with amnesia seeming OOC... My apologies. I asked Kairi for help on that, because she's pretty good at writing characters with amnesia, and her answer was to look at amnesia-Rishu, which was very little help...**

**Leon: So basically, you're going to rewrite this whole chapter at some point.**

**Tony: Pretty much. Now... PLEASE REVIEW!... And then we will see you next... no, the week after next.**

**Leon: Wait, WE will?**

**Tony: Yes, WE will. You make a guest appearance at the end of next chapter.**

**Leon: Finally! I actually get to do something rather than just sitting around!**

**Tony: Well, that's what happens when you're one of my best-developed characters. Now... -turns back to readers- R & R... and we'll see you later! -poofs-**


	15. Chapter XV, Connection

**Tony: -walks into a dark room- Hmm? Now, I would have sworn that I left this light on earlier…**

**(the light flips on to reveal Kairi, Winx, and five characters standing around grinning.)**

**All(except Tony): Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Tony, happy birthday to you~**

**Winx: -throws a bundle of papers at Tony- Now update! –poofs-**

**Valon: -sighs, then drags one of the other characters off-**

**Tony: -cautiously opening the bundle of papers- Oh good, no death threats. Okay… Kairi, would you please…?  
>Kairi: -sighs- Fine. –looks out at readers- Tony doesn't own TotA, but any OC's belong to either him, Winx, or me. Reviewer responses at the bottom… Am I missing anything?<strong>

**Rue: I don't think so…**

**Kairi: Alright. Enjoy the chapter then.**

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><p><strong>Chapter XV<strong>

**Connection**

Luke looked around, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. Valon, however, was laughing his head off.

"Wait, let me get this straight. So this little girl comes running up behind Asch, smacks him in the head with a frying pan, tries to apologize, gets told off, then hits him over the head and runs off? Sweet!" the sixth Ion replica was saying as he and his 'brother' laughed about it. Luke rolled his eyes.

"Note to self: don't tell off a girl that's trying to apologize for an accident while she has another frying pan in her hands," he muttered. Asch glared at him.

"Not you too," he grumbled. Luke raised an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't have told her off for apologizing. An accident's and accident," he replied. Then he went back to looking around. They were all standing in front of the casino. Asch and Luke were off to one side, while Ion, Valon, and Anise laughed about Asch's new 'injury' and Natalia, Tear and Guy discussed their inventory. Luke sighed again.

"Are you sure Sirris and Jade made it after that avalanche?" Asch asked for what had to have been the eighth time. Luke rolled his eyes.

"I'm certain," he told his 'twin'.

"I'm certain that this idiot is going to be the death of me," a familiar voice continued. Luke and Asch turned, and a grin broke out on the former's face.

"Sirris! Jade!" he cried. Jade gave the two of them a strange look, then started scratching his head like he was trying to piece something together. Luke gave him a weird look in return, and Sirris growled.

"The asshole's got amnesia," she said as way of explanation. Luke glanced between Jade and Sirris as the former opened his mouth to speak.

"Technically it's only partial amnesia… And I'm sure I'd have _all_ of my memories back if _someone_ hadn't tried cognitive recalibration," he said, the familiar snarky undertone putting most of Luke's fears at ease. Sirris rolled her eyes, and then Luke noticed the third member of their group.

"Huh? Who are you…? You look kinda familiar…" he asked. The silver-haired man glanced over and smiled.

"I'm Cloud… or Kumo if you absolutely must. But I prefer Cloud," he stated. The rest of the group had wandered over by then.

"Um… Not to sound really stupid, but what's cogna… whatever?" Anise asked. Sirris laughed.

"Cognitive recalibration. Basically, I hit him really hard on the head," she told the younger girl. Cloud rolled his eyes.

"Yes, because I really wanted to continue carrying him," he added sarcastically. Jade, in the middle of all this, was smiling as he readjusted his glasses.

Noelle ran up not long after to inform them that the Albiore II's engines had frozen over and that they wouldn't be able to leave that night. After catching up and figuring out which parts of Jade's memory were missing, the group started splitting up slightly. Cloud went his own way, as he hadn't intended to stick around Keterburg for long, and Valon headed out not long after, having completed the mission he had set out to do before joining them on the trip to the Mount Roneal Sephiroth. Noelle went back to the Albiore. Luke and Sirris were about to leave as well when Asch stopped them.

"Wait, what about Van?" he asked. Luke looked over his shoulder.

"You guys have the means to get to the Absorption Gate. We don't," he stated simply. Jade looked between the two redheads before clearing his throat.

"Why do I have a feeling that this is important and I'm missing most of the equation?" he said. Luke sighed and retook the two steps he had managed to take away from the group.

"Van used us. You've all been connecting the passage rings, and he used that to redirect the flow of the Planet Storm. If we don't stop him and lower the land, it'll all fall and everyone will die," he told him. Asch crossed his arms.

"Did you forget? I can't fight. Not with this wound," he stated. "And one of us has to be there. If I can't fight, I'll just get in the way." Luke looked back at Sirris, and she sighed.

"I've got the second… well, technically it's the third Albiore. If Van's at the Absorption Gate, then that's were we need to focus our forces," she said, joining the group and standing between Guy and Asch. Ion looked around the group.

"Sirris? Why don't you, Luke, Jade, Natalia, Anise, and Guy go to the Absorption Gate? Ginji can take Asch to the Radiation Gate so that he can operate the Sephiroth," Ion suggested. Jade crossed his arms.

"What about you?" he asked. Ion smiled.

"I'll stay here with Nephry. I'll get in the way otherwise," he replied. Luke was frowning though.

"But what if Asch doesn't make it to the Radiation Gate in time?" he wondered. Sirris sighed.

"Then I guess we'll just have to re-direct the commands set for the Radiation Gate to the Absorption Gate," she told him. Natalia didn't seem happy though.

"What about Asch, though? There's bound to be monsters at the Radiation Gate. Won't he get hurt?" she asked. Asch rolled his eyes.

"There's only one of me. If nothing else, slipping around them _is_ an option," he told her. Jade looked around.

"Well then, if that's all of our major problems solved…" he started. "Let's get ourselves ready. I certainly don't want to fight Dorian General Grants unprepared tomorrow. We'll meet up here at eight. Don't be late."

The group nodded and split up, while Sirris pulled Luke off to the side. Asch raised an eyebrow, but decided to stay out of it.

"How long have you been following us?" Luke asked. Sirris snorted.

"I wasn't following you. Noir was. And if you think I'm going to let Asch go to the Radiation Gate alone, you're crazy," she told him. "Come on, we can talk on the Albiore III. Noir ought to be there by now, and we have a lot to discuss."

Luke nodded as the two made their way out of the town. The Albiore II was in the port, but the Albiore III was nearby, in the only spot where it could land on the small continent. Sirris led Luke into the belly of the machine, and he was relatively unsurprised to find that the interior of the Albiore III was identical to that of the Albiore II.

The two of them stepped into the cockpit to find three familiar faces and an unfamiliar face. The unfamiliar girl and Noir were in an argument over weapons. The younger girl's black hair was streaked with green and silver, and her gold eyes matched Sirris's gold eye for intensity. A rather strange blue-gray tattoo covered most of the right side of her face, and her clothes were as strange as she was. Luke decided that asking probably wouldn't be a good idea.

"Hmm? Oh, who's this, Siri?" the girl asked, a strange accent on her voice. Sirris scowled at the nickname.

"Rue, this is Luke. Luke, this is Rue Siloh. Please refrain from asking questions right now, because I don't especially want to hear it all again," she said. Luke held back a chuckle, but Rue giggled openly.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Luke. Siri talks about you a lot," she said, holding out a hand. Luke noted that Sirris rolled her eyes at this comment, but he shook the odd girl's hand anyway and resisted the urge to start asking questions. York laughed, however.

"Yup. Fifty percent is the colonel, ten percent is Roran, fifteen percent is Asch, ten percent is Natalia and Guy, and the rest is all you," he said, almost jokingly. Sirris was leaning against the back wall with her eyes closed.

"Humph. That's only another fifteen percent, York. He's tied with Asch, and the two of them together fall twenty percent short of that asshole, so I don't think that classifies as 'a lot'," she said. Luke laughed lightly at that one, then smiled at the man who had just entered the cockpit.

"Jeez, I leave one person in here and I come back to find half a dozen," Ginji commented. Luke smiled.

"It's good to see you got out of the Albiore I alright," he commented. Ginji gave him a weird look.

"Asch…? Or… Wait, Luke?" he asked. Luke nodded.

"The second one," he confirmed. Ginji smiled.

"Nice to finally meet you," he said. Then he turned to Sirris. "Any clue where Asch's group is?" he asked. Sirris smiled.

"Take a night off. You're taking Asch to the Radiation Gate tomorrow," she told him. Then she and Luke launched into an explanation. Rue sat on the back of one of the seats, while Noir made herself comfortable behind the seating area and York and Urushi stood. Ginji paid close attention as well. Once the redheads' explanation was over, he nodded.

"Alright, let me get this straight real quick. You two are going with Noelle to the Absorption Gate to fight Van, while I take Asch to the Radiation Gate to activate the Sephiroth," he summarized their plan. Sirris nodded, and Rue jumped down from her spot on the seat.

"And Noir, York, Urushi and I have to keep Asch from getting killed," she added. Luke looked at the girl doubtfully. Her corset and ruffled skirt didn't look like they would be ideal to fight in.

"Rue specializes in fonic hymns and healing artes, as well as fonic artes. She prefers to stay out of the middle of the battle, leaving that to York, Noir, and myself," Sirris told him. "Well, usually. Just York and Noir when they get to the Radiation Gate, probably. Asch is in no condition to be swinging a sword… though knowing him, he'll probably try to throw a few fonic artes in just to be useful."

Luke chuckled. "Yeah… Oh, thanks for asking Raven to teach me about fonic artes," he added. Sirris sighed.

"And therein we find the second reason why I decided to drag you out here," she mumbled. "Come on." She started walking out of the cockpit, and Luke followed her immediately. Rue and Noir resumed their argument over weapons while Ginji and York started up a conversation about fon machines.

Sirris led Luke to an empty room and closed the door behind them. Luke looked around, confused. "What's so important that we had to keep absolutely quiet about it?" he wondered. Sirris sighed.

"I needed to have you registered with the Guild. I wouldn't risk you having the same price on your head that's on mine," she explained. Luke frowned.

"Why does it matter?" he asked. His companion looked out the window at the falling snow outside.

"Because I'm not registered. If I were, I wouldn't have this huge bounty on my head. So far as the law is concerned, I'm a murderer, not an assassin," she said quietly. "But you can't be registered under the guild unless you've trained under one of their members. That's why I sent you to Raven when I did, rather than taking you to him the first time we were in Grand Chokmah. He's not allowed to take more than one person under his wing at a time."

"But if the mentor is indisposed, he can take over my training temporarily," Luke added, realizing where this was going. Sirris nodded.

"I left you in Raven's care so that you could register. That doesn't mean I intend to stop training you myself," she informed him. Luke smiled.

"Thanks, Sirris."

* * *

><p>I sighed. Hadn't that asshole said 'here at eight'? Well, I was standing in front of the casino, and it was seven-fifty. Either they were all meeting up at the hotel first and then coming down, or they were really slow.<p>

As it turned out, the former was the correct one. Luke and Anise were talking about something, while Asch stood off to the side with a scowl.

And then I caught myself and mirrored Asch's scowl. "Is something wrong?" Jade asked me. I redirected my scowl to him.

"None of your business, bastard," I said quite simply. Jade adjusted his glasses and Lu—the replica sighed.

"Are you ever going to even try to get along with him?" he asked. I shot a glare his direction, silencing him. Jade adjusted his glasses and looked around, then noticed the girl standing near me.

"Who are you?" he wondered. Rue smiled.

"Rue Siloh. I'll be going with Asch to the Radiation Gate," she answered happily. Asch looked at me and I raised an eyebrow.

"What, did you think I was actually going to send you alone? Rue's not the only one, but she was the only one awake when I left, other than Ginji, and he needed to check the Albiore over again," I told him. Rue giggled and Asch sighed. Natalia looked considerably happier though.

"Okay. We all ready to go?" Rue asked. I looked around, and as it seemed that no one was objecting, I nodded. Rue smiled. "Let's go then."

She stuck close to Asch, leading him off the other direction as our big group headed to the port, where Noelle would be waiting with the Albiore II. Luke… ah dang it… I sighed, and Jade shot me a weird look.

"Are you certain that nothing's wrong?" he wondered. I glared at him.

"You're trying to talk to me. Of course something's wrong," I informed him. Then I shot a glance over at the replica and sighed again. Oh well. I might as well just admit it already, he's not the worthless piece of shit he was when I first found him. He does have a name, after all… I rolled my eyes at the thoughts and picked up the pace. No one else did, not that I especially cared.

Noelle was waiting for us when we did arrive, and we all climbed on board. I was expecting a quiet trip followed by a long journey that would then be followed by a hard but necessary battle.

The flight there went about as quietly as I had thought it would. Luke and Guy were talking about strategies for conserving our energy on the way down, while Anise kept asking Jade questions, trying to help him fill in the remaining blanks in his memory. I honestly couldn't tell you which I preferred. Jade with all of his memories had a tendency to look at me like I was someone to be pitied. Jade without all of his memories, on the other hand…

I sighed and closed my eyes, deciding to think about something else to get him—and the replica—out of my mind for a little while. Strangely enough, my thoughts wandered to Amai. I hadn't seen her since… Well, since Akzeriuth fell. I had to wonder why she would repeatedly pop up until then before disappearing altogether.

The strange, silver-violet haired girl occupied my thoughts for quite some time, long enough that when I looked outside the window, I caught sight of our destination. Noelle landed the Albiore quickly and we all left it. I glanced around, sighing as I caught sight of the Oracle ship nearby. Tear mentioned it, and then we headed in.

The Absorption Gate was a giant, puzzle-like maze. After solving the first part, we got to move down. Anise was already grumbling, but I was a little distracted. I'd watched a small part of a platform collapse earlier. I'd gotten a bad feeling after watching it, and now it was distracting me. Mind you, I was standing back, throwing artes towards whatever attacked us, so it wasn't like I had to be totally focused.

We were standing on another large platform after having been moved down another level when the earthquake hit. "Mieuuuu! The earth's all shaky again!" Mieu cried. I rolled my eyes, then let my heart rate increase to it's own, panicked desire.

"The platform! It's going to—" I tried to warn the others. I was out near the edge, there was no way I was going to be able to get to safety. Before I could finish my warning, however… Well, I'm certain you can figure out what happened.

And as part of the platform fell away, I blacked out.

* * *

><p>Sirris hissed as she sat up, grabbing the piece of platform that had been jabbing her in the back and throwing it in a random direction, only to jump in surprise as someone cried out in shock and pain after having been hit in the head with it. Sirris stood and moved toward the noise, then scowled as she realized that it was Jade. He shook his head and stood.<p>

"Well… if I'm missing any memories now, it's because I was unconscious at the time, not because I got caught in an avalanche," he grumbled, rubbing the back of his head where Sirris had accidentally nailed him with the piece of rubble. The redhead sighed.

"Come on, asshole. I don't think anyone else landed on this part of the walkway, so let's get going. We should be able to meet up somewhere further down," she said quite simply. Jade looked over at her and nodded.

"Right," he replied. "I just hope that no one ended up alone," he added a few moments later. Sirris shrugged.

"If anyone ended up alone, I hope it was Luke. He's pretty much the only one of them that I would even think about trusting down here alone," she told him. Then she spotted the group of monsters. Two snail-like monsters, two fonic golems, and a fonic doll. Sirris sighed. "Take out the damn golems first," she ordered Jade before drawing her dagger. Jade stopped her before she could run into battle, however, handing her a sheathed dagger. Sirris drew the blade out of the sheath ever so slightly, noting the midnight blade and closing her eyes for a moment.

The redhead slipped the poisoned dagger into her bag before running forward to stop the monsters' advances. After slashing one of the snail-like monsters up, she sheathed her dagger to attack the other with a Reaper's Toll before attacking with her dagger again. Jade finished off one of the golems with a well-placed Blessed Drops while she delivered a roundhouse kick to the other, which had tried to attack her from behind. Sirris scowled, then slashed at the Fossail she was fighting with a blade that, for whatever reason, was glowing green.

Jade unleashed another Ground Dasher as Sirris started in on the remaining golem. That didn't last long, and the moment the golem disappeared, Sirris began attacking the doll. It didn't last extremely long either, once the two of them started focusing on it. With all of the monsters killed, the duo started walking again.

"We may have a problem," Sirris stated. Jade looked ahead at the path and sighed, noting that she was correct. There were two parts taken out of their path, and without Mieu they had no way to fix it. Sirris crossed her arms as she amended that thought. No _easy_ way to fix it. But there was no other way to continue downward unless they continued following this path, which meant fixing the pathway.

"Oh well. I didn't want to do this, but we don't have much of a choice," Sirris grumbled. She pulled out her dagger and crouched, drawing in fifth fonons as she did so until her blade began glowing red. Then she leapt off of the walkway. Jade cried out in surprise as she did so, watching as she struck the torch between one section of walkway and the second. The torch lit, allowing the pathway to lay itself out.

Jade walked across the 'bridge' while Sirris did it a second time for the other torch. The redhead sighed and slipped her dagger back into its sheath. She glanced at Jade before continuing on.

Sirris lost track of exactly how many monsters the two of them fought. All she knew was that there were a lot and they were starting to piss her off. She was tempted to use her Mystic Arte, but she knew that if she did, there was no way she'd be able to work herself back up to that point before they faced Van.

Finally, they found themselves standing on a platform that seemed to be connected to many paths. They decided that it would be a good place to wait for the others.

Some time later, Guy, Anise, and Natalia joined them.

"My goodness, you're okay!" Natalia cried, running over. Jade looked over their group quietly and nodded.

"Yes. We've been waiting here for a while. With this many paths connecting to this platform, I have a feeling that Luke and Tear will catch up to us here as well," he told them. Anise looked worried though.

"I saw Luke and Mieu earlier, before Natalia and Guy found me trying to fight off three monsters by myself, but I didn't see Tear," she said quietly. Sirris crossed her arms and looked over at the other platform in the area.

"Tear was standing far enough back that, unless the entire platform fell, she should have been safe. Luke, on the other hand, most definitely would have fallen in… And while I'm certain he can take care of himself…" she said. Jade followed her line of sight, then looked up.

"I wouldn't worry too much about Tear," he told her. Sirris looked at him, then looked up, noticing the ball of light he had. Sure enough, once it landed on the platform, it morphed into the melodist that had been worried about… as well as a silver-red haired boy. He didn't look much older than Anise, but then again, neither did Sirris, unless you really looked at her.

"Oh good, you're all down here… wait, where's Luke?" Tear asked as she and the boy walked over, the latter examining each of them with stormy gray eyes. Guy pointed, and the others followed his hand. Sure enough, on the walkway above them, the redhead in question was hacking away at a golem. Sirris considered helping him out, then decided against it. Mere seconds later, the golem disappeared and Luke finally noticed them and waved.

"Who are you, by the way?" Natalia asked. The silver-red haired boy looked at her in confusion for just a moment before grinning.

"Name's Arashi," he said. "I was lookin' for my siblings, but… ah well. Ain't going back up that way any time soon, least not alone." Sirris nodded, understanding his reasoning well enough. Then she realized something.

"Would your siblings happen to be named Amai or Kumo?" she asked. Arashi looked at her in slight shock.

"Whoa, whoa, wait! You know 'em?" he asked. Sirris nodded, and he grinned. "Yup. Amai's the baby of the family, Kumo and Sora, or Cloud and Skye, as they prefer, are the twins, and Nigai's the eldest. Me, I'm a year older than Amai," he told them. "Been tryin' to track 'em all down, but… the girls teleport, the twins turn invisible, and I stick out like a sore thumb."

The group chuckled at Arashi's description of his family. From what they had seen so far, it was pretty accurate. Sirris, however, sighed.

"You guys know what's below here, don't you?" she asked. Luke nodded, and Arashi stuck his hands into his pockets.

"Passage ring?" the silver-haired boy wondered. Jade nodded.

"As well as General Grants," he added. Luke glanced at Tear, somehow unsurprised that her expression was completely neutral.

"Right. Tear told me you guys were going to have to fight him. Not sure how much help I'll be, but I can try," Arashi stated. "Ain't got nothin' better to do."

After a short conversation about battle formation and strategy, the group, now comprised of eight fighters, stood in the center of the platform, allowing their bodies to be drawn down by the fonons.

As the light around them faded, Sirris scowled. Of course things were never that easy.

Because standing off to the side, gazing out at the fonons being drawn into the core, was Roran.

* * *

><p><strong>Tony: So, I apologize for being a week late. However, since I was a week late, I'll update next week when I was supposed to.<strong>

**Kairi: I'll make sure he does. -grabs onto Six and takes off-**

**Tony: Whatever… Reviewer Responses!**

**Leomitch & Shadow- Um, okay… Anyway… glad you liked it. And yes, Peony's council and General Nordheim. You'll understand exactly why… the chapter after next. / Okay… And about that… Kairi is lazy. However, the links are now in my profile and are labeled, because I started grumbling at her… constantly.**

**Tony: Next chapter… the fight with Roran and Van, the lowering of the Outer Lands, Amai's whereabouts, and Arashi's purpose. Oh, and Leon.**

**Leon: 'Oh, and me.' What's that supposed to mean?**

**Tony: You'll get it.**

**Leon: -cautiously edging away before disappearing-**

**Tony: -shrugs- Oh well. Review please! –poofs-**


	16. Chapter XVI, Confrontation

**Tony: Well, you know how last chapter I said 'The fight with Roran and Van, lowering the Outer Lands, Amai's whereabouts, Arashi's purpose, and Leon?' Let's put it this way… Only three of those were put into this chapter… because I couldn't put any more in without going way over 4k, and I'm trying not to waste words on these chapters because I am now (purposefully) drawing this out as far as I can. (Just to see how many chapters I can pull this story out to.)**

**Leon: Wonderful, Tony. Next?**

**Tony: Reviewer responses are at the bottom (as usual), and so is a special treat… I don't own, so go read and enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter XVI<strong>

**Confrontation**

No one said a word as the group moved to the center of the area. Roran didn't even seem to notice them.

"I was expecting Asch," Van's voice rang out, finally. He stood to look at Luke. "Why have you come, replica?" Luke's right foot shifted back as he moved into a more defensive position.

"Because I'm not going to let you destroy the Outer Lands either," he answered. Van scoffed.

"Mankind is enslaved to the Score," he started. Sirris, off to the side slightly, rolled her eyes, knowing that this was about to become a monologue. "'If you go to the east, you shall find great treasure.' If that Score were to come true, you would begin to listen to it more and more. The Score is a drug, and humanity is addicted to it."

Sirris looked around, carefully noting the group and their locations. Roran had moved from one side to the other, which had her concerned, as she hadn't noticed it until now. 'Head out of the clouds, Sirris,' she told herself, continuing to look around. Arashi seemed… well, bored would be the only way to put it. Sirris resisted the urge to sigh again as Van continued on his rant.

"For a problem as serious as this, a powerful remedy is needed," she heard.

"But killing everyone and replacing them with replicas can't possibly be the only way!" Tear cried out, interrupting him. Sirris noted that, somehow, their group had shifted into a loose battle formation. Roran was watching them curiously.

"Ah… But, after two thousand years, would the people of Auldrant accept leaving the Score?" he asked, finally speaking. When no one answered immediately, he continued. "No, most of them wouldn't. There would be rebellion, people would die, and in the end, more likely than not, the Score would still exist."

"So?" Arashi spoke up. Van and Roran looked at him in mild surprise, likely due to the obvious touch of boredom in his voice. "It would take a few years, maybe a couple generations… But what these guys are talking about _is_ possible. I've seen it happen before… Well, something similar…" he said. "Really similar…" he added under his breath. Van looked around, noting the determined looks on all of their faces.

"It seems we cannot see eye to eye," he stated. "Very well then." He drew his sword without another word, and Roran pulled out his knives. Luke, Guy, Natalia, and Tear drew their weapons as well, and Anise was holding Tokunaga in her hands. Jade, Arashi, and Sirris however, stood in defensive stances.

"We won't let you get in the way," Roran stated. Van nodded once before attacking.

Just like the battle on Mt. Roneal, Roran went straight at Jade, only to find Sirris between him and the fonist. Sirris heard Arashi yell something at someone, whom she assumed to be Jade, before a silver-red blur passed between herself and Roran. A moment later, she caught sight of Arashi attacking Roran. Sirris watched him curiously, then, realizing that he wasn't a great defender (although he seemed to be giving Roran hell in more ways than one), she settled into a casting stance, throwing a quick Thunder Blade in Roran's direction before running over to Natalia.

"Hate to do this, but could you keep an eye on Arashi too?" she asked before pulling the distracted Natalia to the side to avoid one of Van's strike artes. Then she ran back over to attack Roran herself, giving Arashi a minute to himself while Natalia was busy casting a Heal.

Sirris fought back a scowl as she slashed at Roran again. Arashi had managed to get in close enough to hurt him, but she was barely scratching him…

Sirris wanted to smack herself as she jumped out of the way of another attack. A Flame Burst erupted on top of Roran before Arashi started attacking Roran again, giving Sirris a chance to slip the clean dagger into her bag. Her throat constricted slightly as she pulled out her old dagger, stained midnight blue and glinting with a familiar crimson light. She sighed, then charged forward with every intention of killing her uncle.

Natalia managed to send another Heal their way while Luke and Guy had Van preoccupied. Jade threw a Blessed Drops at Roran before sending the next Thunder Blade at Van. Sirris rolled her eyes. The Flame Burst from earlier had been his doing as well.

"Ya know, he'd be better off keepin' his head in his own battle," Arashi told her. Sirris sighed.

"No, really? I didn't realize," she grumbled. Roran laughed at the two of them.

"How ungrateful of you, Sirris. I'd have thought you'd be glad that your daddy's finally trying to help you," he said mockingly. Sirris scowled, managing to push past Roran's defenses and open a cut on his right arm.

"Shut your trap, Roran!" she hissed. Roran scowled at the cut on his arm, but Sirris felt her heart freeze over as his scowl melted into a smirk.

"Now, did you really think I wouldn't come into this battle prepared?" he asked her. "You're not the only one I was feeding isomin to." Arashi took advantage of Roran's distraction by attacking his exposed right side. Sirris, meanwhile, growled before charging back into the battle herself.

The battle, or more correctly, _battles_, continued in a similar fashion for quite a while. Sirris and Arashi would take turns attacking Roran. Sirris would cast an arte while Arashi attacked, and Arashi would get Natalia's attention while Sirris attacked so that she would heal him. Jade would throw the odd arte out at Roran whenever he felt that the others had Van under temporary control.

Luke and Guy attacked Van continuously, a pattern only broken when Luke would break away momentarily to scarf down a gel, as Natalia and Tear's healing artes were no longer of use to him. Anise would keep Van away from him while he was doing this, then go back to casting fonic artes as he returned to attacking. Tear healed constantly, while Natalia switched between healing, shooting, and casting the occasional support arte.

Sirris was no idiot, however, and she knew that sooner or later, someone was going to exhaust themselves.

That person ended up being Jade. His body, while still in its prime, was slightly weaker than the others', simply because he hadn't been fighting as much as they had. His thoughts had been preoccupied with Sirris the past couple of months, and the lack of hard work on his part had left him in a bad position.

Roran took this opportunity to attack the colonel, managing to slip around Arashi's wild attacks. Sirris was off to the side, casting an arte, leaving her in no position to help Jade. Natalia, who had been about to cast a healing arte on Arashi, stopped what she was doing.

"Jade, run!" she screamed as she drew an arrow back. She didn't notice Van behind her, ready to attack.

"_Kuroa Ryou Zue Toue Ryou Rei Neu Ryou Zue~"_

Tear's Force Field protected Natalia from the melodist's brother while Natalia shot an arrow at Roran, forcing him to move and dodge it, giving Jade just enough time to slip around him to run over to where Sirris was ready to release her arte.

"O darkened storm cloud, loose thy blade and run mine enemies through," she chanted. "Thunder Blade!"

Much to everyone's surprise, the arte struck Van, rather than Roran. The commandant stumbled, sticking his sword into the ground to provide himself with balance. He chuckled lightly, something that Luke figured must be difficult for him.

"To think… I'd be defeated by a replica and… a genetic disaster," he coughed before letting loose another hoarse laugh. He released his grip on his sword and stumbled backward… over the ledge and into the abyss below. Roran scoffed.

"Genetic disaster? More like a monster," he hissed. Sirris ran at him after shooting a look at Jade. He sighed and slipped an Orange Gel into his mouth. One more arte, but only because she'd asked in that annoyingly ungrateful way of hers.

Sirris and Roran were the only two fighting now. Luke, Tear, and the others had taken their hint from Jade to head down to the passage ring and get it working. Arashi stayed near Jade, not certain if Roran would try to attack him again or not.

"O roar of the earth, bring forth the fangs of the mighty dragon," Jade chanted. "Ground Dasher!" Sirris grinned as the arte erupted beneath Roran. She made good use of the FOF, drawing them in and releasing them in one swift attack. She back-flipped twice, then nodded at Arashi, who rushed forward to keep Roran occupied.

"O thou who wouldst deny redemption, open the gates of heaven and let loose the fury of thy sins," Sirris chanted, her eyes slipping into their natural green as she did so. "Final Judgment!" Arashi moved out of the way as the Mystic Arte hit Roran full force. A scream was wrenched free from his lips, and Sirris smirked. As the fonons faded away, leaving Sirris completely healed, Roran sank to one knee, supporting himself as well as he could.

Sirris shifted, intending to attack and push him over the ledge to join Van, but she didn't move fast enough. A crimson and green blur came between her and Roran, solidifying into a woman as it reached the wounded man. Arashi looked at the woman in shock.

"Nigai!" he cried out. Sirris remembered that Nigai was the name of his older sister, whom he'd mentioned earlier. The pine-green haired woman scowled at the boy, then started singing. A moment later, a wind picked up, obscuring Nigai and Roran from sight before it dissipated. Arashi scowled. "Sheesh, Ni. Keep abandoning me like this and I'll start taking Amai's side," he grumbled under his breath.

Sirris sighed and looked around. "I guess we can assume that he's not dead yet then, can't we?" she asked, not intending for anyone to answer. She headed down to the passage ring to find that Luke was using his hyperresonance to erase Van's code. "How's it going?" she asked. Luke lowered his arms as he finished and nodded.

"You ready, Tear?" he asked. Sirris noted that the red ring had yet to be removed from the Radiation Gate, and that the commands had been redirected. So, Asch hadn't made it in time after all… The melodist nodded, and Luke raised his arms again, this time, simply sending Seventh fonons through the passage ring. Jade kept an eye on the diagram up above, as did Sirris… though Jade was more preoccupied with the information in the center, whereas Sirris was watching the parts pertaining to the other Sephiroth. She had a bad feeling about this…

Luke gasped and clenched his jaw. "Luke! What's wrong?" Natalia cried. Luke shook his head, and Sirris sighed, her eyes finally wandering from the diagram.

"He's not going to be able to support the entire world's landmass by himself," she said quietly. "I had a feeling this would happen to Asch… It's why I sent him to the Radiation Gate when it was decided that Luke would be coming here with us. But if he doesn't hurry…" she trailed off, looking back up.

Her well-trained sight caught the difference almost immediately, and she smiled. "Well, I guess we don't have to worry about that," she added. A moment later, the golden glow around Luke increased.

"Asch!" he cried out. Sirris could almost see the smirk on the original's face. Slowly, so slowly, the group watched as the diagram lit up completely and the land lowered.

Once the light of the diagram started fading, Luke stopped glowing, and he collapsed to one knee. Sirris wasn't surprised. Between fighting his way down alone, fighting Van, and lowering the lands, he had to be exhausted. She was proud of him though.

"It looks like that's it," Jade said. Natalia nodded.

"Yes. I'm glad, too," she added. Sirris sighed, then stood and headed back out. Luke shot a look at Jade, who, after a split second of indecision, ran after her. Arashi watched the two with interest.

"What's with those two, anyway?" he asked. Luke smiled.

"Jade's got a few things to make up to Sirris," he said simply. "Let's stay down here for a few minutes. They could use some time alone."

No one disagreed with him.

* * *

><p>I was only a few feet away from the light that signaled the teleporting platform when Jade caught up to me. I sighed and stopped. If he wanted to talk, better to do it down here where there weren't monsters.<p>

"Sirris… I…" he started. I sighed and turned around to actually face him.

"You're the one who screwed this up. Do you really think an apology will help?" I asked quietly. He looked down at the floor, obviously at a loss as to what to say. I was about to turn back around when he looked up at me.

"Will you come live with me?" he asked. I raised an eyebrow.

"Where did that come from?" I wondered. He slipped his hands into his pockets, a bit more comfortable now that he'd gotten the hard part out.

"You're obviously not planning to go back to Roran, and I know you don't like Keterburg because of the snow. You need to have some place to stay," he said. I opened my mouth, but the look on his face stopped me. "I also doubt that spending all of your time on the Albiore sounds interesting to you either," he finished. I sighed.

"You know… Noir brought that up some time ago," I admitted. I walked over to the ledge Van had fallen from. "She wanted to know what I would do once this was all over. I'm an assassin, even if I'm not registered. There's not much else I can do, because I never learned. The military won't take me because I'm a known murderer… I don't have a true purpose anymore," I muttered. I knew that Jade could hear me, but at that point I didn't care. I needed to think this out.

"Sirris…" Jade whispered. I sighed again.

"Noir said she had an idea," I told him, finally turning to look at him again. "I want to talk to her before I give you a definite answer," I decided. Jade nodded, content with my choice, and I crossed my arms. "Hey, shouldn't the others be up here by now?" I wondered. Jade adjusted his glasses.

"They're probably trying to give us some time," he said. I scowled.

"Figures… Idiots."

* * *

><p><em>Two weeks later…<em>

"Remind me again why we're doing this?" Sirris asked, scowl firmly plastered on her face. Luke smiled.

"Because Jade has to return to Malkuth in two days and I've got work to do, and we're probably not going to get another chance to fight together after the two of us break off," he answered almost immediately. Guy sighed.

"You keep saying you have work to do… but you never explain _what_ work…" he grumbled. Luke's smile faded as he glanced over at Sirris, who narrowed her eyes. Jade, sadly, was starting to understand this silent exchange, and realized that if any of them wanted to know, he'd have to do some digging on his own time.

"So, you drug us all to the coliseum?" Arashi wondered, looking up at the doors in front of the group. Natalia nodded.

"It's safer than going out and chasing down monsters to fight," she stated. Luke stuck his hands in his pockets while Sirris sighed.

"So, wait. Are we entering as groups or are some of us going solo?" she asked. Behind her, Rue, Noir, York, and Urushi were entertaining some of the Baticul children. Sirris didn't bother to hide her red hair; next to Luke and Asch, it wasn't worth it. Her eyes, however, were green.

"I've actually got something I'd like to talk to the Duke about," Guy told them. Sirris nodded to herself, and Luke crossed his arms, looking over at Asch. Sirris watched them, but, aside from the occasional change of expression, nothing was said… out loud, at least.

"Would you two care to clue the rest of us in on your silent conversation?" Jade asked, adjusting his glasses. Luke and Asch nodded to each other for a moment before turning back to the rest of the group.

"The maximum group size is four, so Asch, Tear, Natalia and I will compete as one group," Luke said. Anise crossed her arms.

"Um, before you put me on a team or something, I'd like to say that I'd rather not fight," she piped up. Asch looked over at her.

"Let me guess, you want to keep an eye on Ion?" he asked. Anise nodded, but Asch didn't look fazed. "That's fine." He looked over toward the other three and noticed that Rue was walking over.

"Oh, we're setting up teams now?" she asked. Asch nodded.

"Yeah. Are they participating?" he asked. Rue shook her head.

"They aren't, but I'd like to," she replied. Luke looked over at Arashi, who grinned.

"How 'bout a team o' four an' two teams o' two?" he asked. Natalia raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why not just two teams of four?" she wondered. Sirris sighed, catching her attention before nodding her head in Jade's direction. Understanding crossed Natalia's face as she realized what Luke and Asch were up to.

"So… me and you?" Rue asked Arashi. He grinned and nodded. Luke looked around.

"That all settled then?" he asked. Everyone nodded. Asch smiled and led them into the coliseum to register.

* * *

><p>Some time later, while Arashi and Rue were fighting against Asch, Natalia, Luke, and Tear in an exhibition match, Jade found himself unable to talk to Sirris. She was sitting on the bench (wearing the dark wig and golden-brown eyes of her disguise from Daath) and playing around with one of her daggers. The clean one, Jade noted.<p>

He sighed and leaned his head back against a column nearby. Why was it that whenever he wanted to talk to her, he couldn't, but the two of them worked beautifully together on the battlefield?

He knew the answer to that. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew the answer to that.

"Is she your sister?" a quiet but male voice asked. Jade turned to look at the man standing nearby against the wall. Wild brown hair fell into his face, and eyes somewhere between the color of ice and the shade of the midday sky bore into his own crimson orbs.

"No," Jade told him once he'd recovered from the slight shock of a total stranger talking to him, and about Sirris, nonetheless. "No… she's my daughter," he admitted. The man closed his eyes and looked over at Sirris, an emotion in his eyes that he couldn't quite place.

"She's torn," he finally said. His eyes rose to meet Jade's again. "You weren't the one to raise her, were you?" he asked. Jade opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't answer. The man nodded, as the expression that had crossed Jade's face had been more than enough for him. "She's lost the adult figure in her life recently, then. You took that position up, but… it's harder on her than most people would think," he said.

Jade tried not to laughed. _'It's harder on her than you know,'_ he thought. The man continued, however.

"Try not to take over that adult figure position in her life right away. You'll just make things worse. Act as her friend first, not her father," he said quietly. Jade watched the man, wondering why he would be giving him advice like this. The man caught sight of Jade's gaze and smiled. "I'd know… I had to take care of my little brother after our parents died…" he said, looking back over toward Sirris. "I wasn't ready for that yet. I was trying to be a parent, not a brother… and certainly not a friend."

"I'm not sure I can save myself in her eyes regardless of what I do. I turned her away from my door twice, and handed her over to her uncle when she was still only a few weeks old. He wasn't exactly kind to her," Jade admitted quietly. The man looked up at her, the sorrowful blue of his eyes melting away into a stone-cold blue-gray of determination.

"Don't think like that," he said. "That's what's going to tear the two of you apart."

And without another word, the man walked off, leaving Jade to mull over his words. The colonel was still deep in thought when their team was called. Sirris joined him as they stepped out into the coliseum. The battles began.

* * *

><p>"Oh, now don't you all be leaving just yet!" the MC yelled happily. "Because we've got ourselves another exhibition match!"<p>

Jade and Sirris sighed, the latter running a hand through her wig as she did so. The gate on the other side of the Coliseum raised, and in stepped the man Jade had been talking to earlier. Jade raised his eyebrow, and the man looked interested as well.

"Alright, let this Jade and Siri vs. Leon match begin!" the MC shouted before scurrying out of the way. Leon drew his weapon, a large sword, seemingly out of nowhere, while Sirris immediately slipped into a casting stance. As she seemed to be his first target, Jade ran out to intercept him. A moment later, Thunder Blade came down almost on top of Leon, who barely managed to roll out of the way in time. Then Jade ran back past where Sirris had been as the fifteen-year-old decided that it was time for her to attack Leon the old fashioned way.

Leon smiled. "Nice to know you're not going to go easy on me," he laughed. Sirris smirked.

"Don't get cocky with me… it'll be the last thing you do," she informed him. He laughed, then started swinging his sword around at Sirris, who was happily dodging each attack. Leon scowled as he moved out of the way of another Thunder Blade that Jade had thrown his direction.

Leon sighed as his swing missed the girl again. She was extremely agile, and definitely quick, he'd give her that. Although, Leon thought to himself, while her father wasn't as quick, he was damn good with those artes. The brunette rolled out of the way of another one and shot up to attack 'Siri', except that she wasn't there when he did. She was off to the side, already casting. Which meant…

Leon turned around, not surprised that Jade was right behind him with a spear. The older man very nearly managed to stick the thing in him, but Leon was used to acting on instinct rather than just knowledge. The brunette smirked and spun around, a move Jade hadn't been expecting, and managed to score with a slash across his chest. His instincts screaming, Leon ran off, or tried to, only to be hit by a rather painful Blessed Drops. He smirked as he rose, however. 'Siri' ran forward to attack him again, but stood still, then opened his fon slots and released a small shockwave, which managed to knock her off of her feet, only for her to flip back onto her feet in the next second.

Leon's body was glowing white now as he ran forward, much faster than before. 'Siri's' eyes showed no panic or fear. In fact, she rushed forward to meet him. She underestimated his strength as speed, leaving him an opening. Once she had regained her footing, she took off across the floor, but that wouldn't be enough to stop Leon. He drew on the fonons around him and rushed forward to catch up to her.

She whirled and held up her dagger to protect herself from his sword swing. Then, he drew all of the wild fonons around him into his body, causing a purple-white glyph to form around the two of them. Off to the side, Jade could only watch and pray that his daughter would come out alive.

"O wild melody of ancient warriors, resound and judge this fallen soul," Leon chanted, a cage of sorts forming around the two of them. He grinned. "Berserker!"

'Siri' cried out in pain as the cage collapsed in on the two of them. Leon, who had known what to expect, was barely bothered by it. To his shock, however, 'Siri' stood and ran back to where her father was, leaving Jade to attack while she started to cast. Leon tilted his head to the side as he watched 'Siri'. She was far more resilient than most he had fought, he would give her that. He smiled.

Maybe this last battle wasn't as much a waste of his time as he had thought.

* * *

><p><strong>Tony: So… Obviously the two I didn't get to were Amai's whereabouts and Arashi's purpose. And I'm not finished with that battle either. (The main reason for it is because Kairi is now refusing to re-write my battle scenes for me… well, completely, anyway. So I'm trying to practice.)<strong>

**Leon: You actually found a way to give me Berserker mode? Amazing…**

**Tony: -stares at Leon in shock-**

**Leon: What?**

**Tony: For once… that wasn't sarcasm… Ahem, anyway… Guest responses!**

**Leomitch & co.- Hiya! Good to see you guys again! Yeah, Kairi is working on more pics right now for me. She said she's got a special surprise for me too, but… (When it comes to Kairi and special surprises… well… you probably get my point…) A blonde-haired, green-eyed, 20 yr old male? Hmm… It'd be easier to talk to you if I had some means of contact, but oh well. Let's just say… something might have been mentioned. –winks- I will… and I will… Okay. Good luck to you, Shadow.**

**Tony: So… Please send in your reviews! They make me happy! (And I only got one review for the chapter I posted on my birthday, so I'm kinda sad…)**

**Leon: Wah, wah… -poofs-**

**Tony: -sighs- See everyone… um… -looks at a colorful calendar- …the twelfth. (12th) –poofs, then reappears- Shoot, almost forgot! Here's your little treat; a preview from next chapter! (somewhere in the middle…)**

* * *

><p>Chapter XVII – A Moment of Peace<p>

_Suzanne smiled, almost conspiratorially._

"_When were you here last? I remember a boy, named Soren…" she said, stressing the words 'boy' and 'Soren'. Sirris stared at her for a moment before laughing. Natalia, however cringed._

"_I can't believe how rude I was to you…" she muttered. Asch started laughing at that one, and Luke sighed, obviously thinking something and choosing not to comment._

"_I'd say I missed something…" Guy commented, walking back into the room. Judging from the dirt on his sleeves that he'd tried to brush off, he'd been helping Pere with the flowers. Luke smiled._

"_We were just talking about Sirris's track record here," he told him. Guy raised an eyebrow and sat next to Sirris._

"_And by track record, you mean…" he started cautiously. Sirris laughed._


	17. Chapter XVII, A Moment of Peace

**Tony: So, here it is… The long-awaited Chapter XVII… after which, Leomitch has permission to kill General Nordheim and Peony's Council. :D**

**Leon: Should I be concerned?**

**Sirris: Wait, shouldn't _I_ be concerned?**

**Tony: No, and maybe.**

**Sirris: -scowls-**

**Tony: So… I don't own. Guest replies at the bottom. Enjoy the chapter! …as much as you can…**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter XVII<strong>

**A Moment of Peace**

I caught sight of the smirk on Leon's face just moments before he went into Overlimit. I scowled and flipped back up onto my feet. What I saw surprised me.

Leon's body was glowing white. Then he ran forward, and the first words through my mind were 'hey look, power boost, neat.' I ran up to him to attack… and greatly underestimated him. A scowl now plastered on my face, I righted myself once again and took off running.

'_Great, a berserker. Just what I needed,'_ I grumbled in my thoughts. And Leon was very good at controlling the wild fonons of the berserker form. He was on my tail again like hounds on a rabbit.

I spun around and held my dagger up just in time to deflect an attack. Before I could move any further away, Leon had drawn the fonons into his body and caused a purple-white glyph to appear around us. I growled. He'd gone into overlimit, so this could only mean one thing.

Mystic arte.

Shit.

Off to the side, Jade watched, fear in his eyes. I didn't blame him; I didn't want to be there, but I couldn't move. Quickly, a white cage was built up around us, and Leon started chanting. "O wild melody of ancient warriors, resound and judge this fallen soul," he began. An evil-looking grin spread across his face. "Berserker's Fold!"

I screamed. I'll admit it, that Mystic Arte hurt like hell. It felt like someone had shoved ice splinters into every inch of my body and then set fire to the tattered remains. But the moment the pain passed, I was up and running away from Leon. I started casting immediately, intending to launch a Blessed Drops in his direction and make use of the FOF so I could hit him with my own Mystic Arte.

I caught sight of Leon's smile just before I started chanting, and I had to wonder just how confident he was. But I didn't have time to think about that. I had to worry about my own arte. "Rise, o violent waters, to rout mine enemies. Blessed Drops!" I chanted, releasing the arte right next to Leon.

I missed on purpose, because in the next moment, I was running forward to collect up the remaining fonons. Leon's attention switched back to me while Jade ran back to cast. He came close enough, and I treated him to the same little surprise he had treated me to earlier.

It took Leon longer to stand after being knocked off his feet, but by the time he had his sword in hand again, I was already casting. Jade set off an Energy Blast near Leon while I finally managed to call upon the fonic glyph that would keep Leon from moving out of the way.

"O thou who wouldst deny redemption, open the gates of heaven and release the fury of they sins," I chanted. Then, raising an arm in a rather Jade-like fashion, I finished, "Final Judgment!"

Leon fell to one knee for a short while, and I took the opportunity to check my wounds. Thankfully, I had managed to heal all of them for now, so I ran forward to attack the rising Leon. Then Jade ran over. For a moment, I was confused…

And then he let loose a shockwave that indicated the release of his overlimit. I chuckled under my breath as he took a turn letting Leon have a taste of his Mystic Arte. I had to wonder which he would use, but it became obvious after only a moment.

"I, who stand in the full light of the heavens, command thee, who opens the gates of hell. Pour forth, divine lightning," he chanted. I flipped out of the way. Leon was well trapped by the fonic glyph anyway. "Indignation!"

I crossed my arms as the arte hit, then sighed. Leon most definitely was not a foe to be laughed at. Certainly, he was in much worse condition than Roran had been after Final Judgment and Indignation, but still…

I decided that I might as well use it. The arte wasn't forbidden, nor had I created it, but it was scarcely heard of, and it was deadly. I settled into a casting stance, and Jade ran forward to intercept Leon. I knew what I planned to do, and I did not intend to give up on this fight.

"O correlate born in the depths of nothing, abandon your mundane form and become annihilation incarnate!" I chanted. I had only used this arte once before, against a certain Oracle Knight who was particularly stubborn about not dying. Come to think of it, I wasn't sure if he was dead yet or not. I released the fonons, allowing them to form into the arte as Jade ran away from Leon. I didn't blame him; he had no idea what was about to happen. "Extension!"

The resulting black hole that evolved into a supernova was more than enough to finish Leon. The brunette swordsman fell to his knee, relying on his sword not to fall farther than that, and he didn't try to get back up.

As the MC returned to the stadium and called the match, I walked over to Leon and helped him up. The brunette smiled tiredly and thanked me before his sword disappeared. Jade walked over and nodded at him, and he smiled.

"For all your inability to get along, you two sure are hell to try and beat on the battlefield," Leon commented. He chuckled and started out of the coliseum. "And that's definitely a good thing."

* * *

><p>Guy crossed his arms as they sat around the table. The duke hadn't joined them, but Suzanne had, taking her husband's place at the table to leave more room for the others. All of them, with the notable exceptions of the Dark Wings, who were putting on a show somewhere in Baticul, had accepted her hospitality and chosen to eat in the manor.<p>

Natalia and Asch sat on either side of the duchess, while Luke sat next to Natalia and Ion next to Asch. At the end of the table, Jade and Sirris sat across from each other, somehow finding a mutual fascination for battle strategy during a war that kept the two of them talking… to each other, shockingly. The rest of the table would play along by thinking up battle scenarios, which the two of them would then argue over before deciding on the best course of action.

Between the Kimlascan nobility and the father-daughter pair, Anise, Guy, Tear, Arashi, Rue, and Ginji had arranged themselves. Noelle had taken the Albiore II back to Sheridan, so Ginji was dropping everyone off.

As Sirris and Jade finally agreed on another battle strategy and Asch shouted one out, Guy caught sight of Pere in the courtyard. He stood and bowed toward Lady Suzanne. "My Lady, by your leave, I have something I need to attend to," he said. Suzanne smiled.

"Go ahead, Guy," she told him, a knowing smile on her face. Slowly, the table emptied as people finished eating and headed to their beds. Jade left the table after a while, leaving Sirris with Natalia, Luke, and Asch.

"Why don't you come sit down here?" Suzanne suggested. Sirris poked at something for a moment before abandoning it and moving to take the open seat next to Asch. The duchess smiled sadly. "Sirris… I'd like to apologize," she said a while later. Sirris looked over to her, confused. "We allowed Roran to take you away from here. Jade told me what he put you through… I realize now that it was a mistake," she explained.

Sirris sighed and shook her head. "That was years ago, Ma'am. Long enough now that I'm not sure I could accept your apology sincerely. Besides… you gave me a home for a time, when no one else would. I still owe you for that… and I most definitely did not repay that debt properly the last time I was here," she replied. Suzanne smiled, almost conspiratorially.

"When were you here last? I remember a boy, named Soren…" she said, stressing the words 'boy' and 'Soren'. Sirris stared at her for a moment before laughing. Natalia, however cringed.

"I can't believe how rude I was to you…" she muttered. Asch started laughing at that one, and Luke sighed, obviously thinking something and choosing not to comment.

"I'd say I missed something…" Guy commented, walking back into the room. Judging from the dirt on his sleeves that he'd tried to brush off, he'd been helping Pere with the flowers. Luke smiled.

"We were just talking about Sirris's track record here," he told him. Guy raised an eyebrow and sat next to Sirris.

"And by track record, you mean…" he started cautiously. Sirris laughed.

"Well, let's see. I get kicked in the ribs and end up here for a few months, and then Roran shows up and takes me away. Then I come back under another alias and pretend to be a boy, and people repeatedly try to ruin my cover, Natalia is rude to me, Luke brushes me off… repeatedly," she commented. Guy laughed, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah… definitely different circumstances the second time," he muttered. Asch crossed his arms.

"The first time she was running away, the second time she was on a mission, and now she's back… just to visit, for once," he said. Sirris smiled, and the others mimicked the action. A short while later, Luke stood and asked to be excused. Guy shot him a look.

"You know, you still haven't told us what your oh-so-important 'work' is," he said. Luke stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Eh, that's for me to know and you to… hopefully not find out," he replied. Sirris crossed her arms, but chose not to comment as Luke left. Suzanne sighed.

"Well, there went any hope of keeping both of my sons under my roof for a few days at least," she said quietly. Asch stared at the tablecloth for a while, before he and Natalia left. Guy and Sirris followed shortly after, but Guy stopped Sirris just outside the manor.

"Sirris, I have a feeling that I know what Luke's up to… and please tell me I'm wrong," he stated. Sirris looked up at him, and the look on his face told her all she needed to know. She stuck her hands in her pockets before she answered.

"It was Luke's choice, not mine."

* * *

><p>Ginji was slightly shocked when he let four people off outside Grand Chokmah. Jade and Guy, he had been expecting. Sirris and Luke, on the other hand…<p>

"I take it you're accepting my invitation?" Jade asked. Sirris didn't look at him, but she nodded. Luke crossed his arms.

"Well, at least now I'll have half an idea where to find you," he muttered. Sirris rolled her eyes at him and gave him a friendly push, and Luke chuckled. "See you three later!" he called as he walked off. Guy watched him with dark eyes, something that did not escape Jade's attention. The colonel chose not to comment on it though, knowing that things would likely end badly if he did.

The three of them walked together to the Curtiss manor. Sirris took a deep breath as they walked in. She'd never actually been inside, not that she could remember, anyway. It was large and spacious, and it was obvious that Jade rarely spent any time there. Sirris was fine with that. The less she had to deal with the bastard, the better…

Jade showed both her and Guy to bedrooms. Guy thanked him for providing a place to stay temporarily, while Sirris remained silent. She had to wonder how long she'd be able to get away with living in one place. Jade likely wouldn't approve of her wearing a wig all the time, and it wasn't as if dying her hair would help. The dye never stuck, she'd tried before.

Jade and Guy had left her in peace in her room, so she sat on the bed to think. She had to come up with something to keep the military off her back. She sighed and looked up at the mirror. She had been examining herself for a while when she raised an eyebrow and walked over. She pulled her fingers through her hair, separating it enough to look at the roots.

Sirris was shocked.

So shocked, in fact, that she promptly sat down on the floor and stared at her empty hands. At the roots of her hair, the crimson she had become so used to was fading to honey-blonde.

The exact color her hair had been before she had stayed at the Fabre Manor the first time.

Sirris took a deep breath and stood, intending to walk it off. Her hair, though much longer than it had been during her stay at the manor, was still just as wild. She grabbed a coat out of her back and pulled it on, pulling the hood up as she did so. She left the manor quietly, without drawing attention to herself. In the streets, life went on as it normally did. Sirris walked past the children playing, the teens chatting, and the adults going about their day.

She headed out of the city, intending to take a walk through Theor Forest to clear her mind. She had just reached the forest's edge when a flash of yellow caught her eye, and she spotted the blonde-haired man. Sirris raised an eyebrow, deciding that questioning the man's reasoning was in order… especially considering the way he was watching Grand Chokmah. She sighed and started up the tree silently.

* * *

><p>Arashi crossed his arms. Rue had decided to go to Nam Cobanda Isle with the Dark Wings, leaving him with no idea as to where he would go. There was always the option of continuing to look for his siblings, but he hadn't had a lot of luck with that so far, so he had hit a wall.<p>

Ion had introduced him to Valon before the Fon Master and his guard were taken by Ginji to be dropped off in Daath, so Arashi and the sixth Ion replica were currently walking along a quiet road somewhere in Rugnica.

A flash of silver caught Arashi's eye, and he stopped to look. Valon, it seemed, had seen it as well.

A silver-haired man stepped out of the trees onto the road, and he smiled when he saw the duo. Valon relaxed.

"Oh. Hello, Cloud," he greeted the man. The man's expression immediately turned sour, however, and Arashi sighed.

"That ain't Cloud, Valon. That's the crazy twin," he told the green-haired boy. "That's Sora."

'Sora' rolled his eyes. "That's Skye, shrimp," he corrected Arashi. The younger brother shrugged.

"Who cares?" he countered. Skye crossed his arms and tilted his head, letting the sunlight reflect off of his hair and reveal blue streaks.

"I do," he replied. "By the way, Nigai's been wondering."

Arashi groaned. "Nothin' ever ends well when someone says 'Nigai's been wonderin''," he grumbled. Skye laughed.

"It won't end well for you if she doesn't like your answer to the question I'm gonna ask," he told his brother. Arashi crossed his arms.

"Sigue*," he said. Skye rolled his eyes.

"What are you planning to do?" he asked.

"Honestly? Dunno. I was just thinkin' 'bout that, actually," Arashi replied. Skye sighed.

"You're going to have to figure it out quick, shrimp. Nigai isn't exactly known for her patience," he told him before walking back off into the forest. Valon looked between Arashi and Skye.

"What was that about?" he asked. Arashi sighed and looked up.

"Put simply, our family's screwed up. Right now… I think I'd best go find Amai," he said quietly. He smiled at Valon. "Nice ta meet ya though," he added before taking off down the road. Valon watched his retreating back with interest.

"What a strange fellow," he muttered. He turned back around, only to see a girl with silver hair laughing quietly by the side of the road. "Hmm…? Who are you?" he asked. The girl giggled some more.

"I'm Amai… And Arashi's my brother… and the idiot of the family. He ran off to look for me, but I'm standing right here," she told him. Valon raised an eyebrow, then laughed once he finally figured out what was so funny.

Then he turned around to yell at Arashi. "Hey, idiot! You're going the wrong way!"

A few moments later, Arashi came back, not at all surprised to find that Amai had, in fact, been behind them. He sighed and crossed his arms. "Where have you been?" he grumbled. Amai smiled slightly.

"I've been trying to chase our siblings down. As of yet, I've found Skye, Skye, Skye, Nigai, Skye, Nigai, Skye, Skye, and you," she informed him. Arashi raised his eyebrow.

"You sure one of them 'Skye's ain't actually Cloud?" he asked. Amai nodded.

"Positive… and, you are?" she asked Valon. The green-haired boy was fiddling around with something and didn't hear her.

"That's Valon," he told her. Then he stuck his hands into his pockets. "So ya can't find him huh? Hmm… Wait a sec… Hey, Valon!" he yelled. That got the green-haired boy's attention, and he stood up and stuck the thing he'd been fiddling with into his pockets. "Didn't ya say you were with Luke when they got back to Keterburg? An' didn't Sirris say something about seein' 'im there?" he asked.

Valon looked thoughtful for a few minutes. "If I remember correctly… yeah, Cloud came in with Sirris and Jade, grumbling almost jokingly about having to carry Jade down from Mt. Roneal," he replied. Then he frowned. "We both left pretty much as soon as everyone had gotten caught up though, so I don't have any idea where he could be now."

Amai sighed. "You're sure it was Cloud? Not Skye?" she asked. Valon looked over at her with a bored expression on his face.

"Skye's highlights are blue. Cloud's are a darker silver that you have trouble seeing even if the sun is shining against his hair," he replied. Amai smiled.

"Well, if nothing else, that's a start," she said happily. Then she looked over at Arashi. "What about you, Arashi? What are you going to do?" she asked. Her brother looked uncomfortable.

"Ya know, back when we first got out o' that hellhole, I woulda taken Nigai's side in a flash," he told her. "But now…"

Amai shook her head. "I'm not asking you to take a side, Ari. I'm asking you what you're going to do," she repeated. Arashi looked at her in slight surprise, then smiled.

"Dunno. Think I'll stick with Valon for a bit… then maybe go bug a few friends o' mine," he answered. Amai nodded.

"Alright," she said. Then she sighed. "Although… one of these days, I'll get used to you talking like that."

Arashi laughed. "Oh, don't lie. You ain't never gonna get used ta me talkin' like this."

* * *

><p>Sirris walked back into town that day with a smile on her face. The man she had found had been rather annoyed about her not only finding his 'observation post' but also that she had come up and joined him.<p>

Once the two had gotten off the subjects of why he was there (he wouldn't tell her, other than the fact that it had something to do with the emperor's council and General Nordheim) and why she was there (a rather short and boring part of the conversation), they had had an interesting time…

And by interesting, Sirris meant 'strange as singing rabbits'. (Or Jade doing ballet in a pink tutu, which was a mental image she never wanted to have again.)

Sirris shuddered at the thought and looked around. Her red hair wasn't concealed, but her eyes were green, as usual when she needed a quick disguise. She frowned, wondering what Luke was up to, and headed for the bar where she knew Raven would be sitting at this hour. A flash of honey-brown and blue distracted her, however, as she spotted Jade walking through the crowds. He had files under his arm, and seemed slightly uncomfortable. Most people didn't realize this, but Sirris was no idiot.

She may have just recently admitted that yes, Jade was her father, but she did know that if Jade was uncomfortable, then it meant whatever was in that folder pertained to either herself, himself, fomicry, or Raven's guild.

She had a feeling that none of those choices would end well. She sighed and headed back to the manor at a run, then pulled out her bag. She had one disguise left that Jade hadn't seen. She hoped that he wouldn't realize it was her as she slipped the boy's clothes on and pulled the brown wig over her hair. Glancing in the mirror, she watched her eyes fade from green straight to blue, and sighed.

"I'm running out of time," she muttered, getting up and leaving the manor quickly before anyone could spot her. She had brought a small bag with her clothes along, with the intention of changing before returning to the manor again.

She walked into the bar and immediately found a problem with her disguise. Guy had helped her get these clothes, he would recognize them… and of course, he was sitting at the bar. He didn't notice as she walked up the stairs to the second floor, something Sirris was grateful for.

Once on the second floor, she ordered something to eat (ramen, rather than her usual curry). Jade was sitting at a table nearby, not even bothering to hide the files he was looking through. Sirris glanced at them repeatedly, frowning slightly as she started to piece together what he seemed to be investigating.

Of course, once Jade was finished eating, he packed up, paid, and left, leaving Sirris no choice but to finish her own dinner. She headed out of the bar after paying for her own meal and looked around. And then she remembered about Guy.

"Hey. Haven't seen you in a while," he greeted her, pulling her away from the bar and down to the port, all the while keeping up a friendly chatter. Sirris scowled as the two finally reached the practically abandoned port and Guy shut up. A moment later though… "What were you doing?"

Sirris crossed her arms. "Jade's up to something. And trust me, if he's up to something, to the point where he's avoiding Emperor Peony, then it won't end well," she grumbled. "Especially since one of the files he had was the A.G. census. Raven's required to send it in to Malkuth Military Headquarters every month."

A dark look crossed Guy's face. "He's investigating after Luke," he realized. Sirris nodded.

"He's been registered though. At least if Jade's findings leak to someone else in the military, Luke will be safe. I, on the other hand, am a different story entirely," she told him. Guy rolled his eyes.

"Uh, yeah, don't you have a bounty on your head in every single city on Auldrant?" he asked sarcastically. Sirris smiled sadly.

"Hey, I'm not a total idiot. I did actually think to protect Luke," she replied. Then she sighed. "Come on, let's get back to the manor. I'm sure my _father_ will be wondering where we are," she sneered. Guy shook his head, wondering how long it would take the bitterness between Sirris and Jade to fade.

Standing nearby behind a stack of crates, however, was a man caught between doing the right thing for his friend… and the right thing for the law.

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><p>Sirris groaned silently. Three days. It had been three days since she had come to live with Jade in Grand Chokmah. And already, the bastard was getting on her last nerve. She wanted to scream, really, but that might startle the servants, considering the fact that she was currently playing a rather one-sided version of hide-and-seek.<p>

She had been informed that Jade was looking for her, and the servant had said that he hadn't looked happy.

So, since she didn't want to deal with him this early in the morning, she was hiding. Where? Why, in a rather large, potted plant of course. And she was quite comfortable… aside from that one branch that kept sticking her in the back. But she didn't dare move it right then, especially seeing as how Jade was currently walking in front of her… Back and forth, back and forth.

Sirris had learned a lot more about Jade than she thought she wanted to know over the last few days, one annoying little fact being that when he was irritated and trying to solve a problem, he tended to pace. He was very good at not letting others see it outside of the manor, however, inside...

Back and forth, back and forth…

"Hey, Jade? You haven't seen Sirris, have you?" Guy asked as the blonde came up the stairs. There was a fearful look in his eye, which Sirris knew Jade would have seen immediately as well.

"No, I've been trying to figure out where she could be hiding myself," he replied. "Why, what's wrong?"

Guy took a deep breath. "Emperor Peony's council has issued a search warrant for the manor, Jade. They know she's here," he told him. Sirris narrowed her eyes. She had barely left the manor in the last few days, so how could they have found her already? She hopped out of the plant, startling Jade and Guy, though she was pleased to have that annoying branch out of her back.

She was down the stairs in an instant, but she decided that she would have been better off staying hidden in the plant.

Standing in the foyer with eight Malkuth soldiers was General Nordheim, the council's warrant in his hand.

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><p><strong>Tony: So then… Other than Leomitch, who wants to kill General Nordheim and the council? Interestingly enough, it was NOT General Nordheim who informed the council of Sirris's whereabouts… but I won't let you kill the guy who did. Any guesses though? You'll find out next chapter anyway, so it doesn't really matter…<strong>

**Leon: Who cares? Anyway, what all's going on next chapter?**

**Tony: Well… I'm not saying. Because honestly, I've dropped a lot of hints… and for the characters of the story, a big truth comes out next chapter so… Yeah. Anyway, Guest Responses!**

**Leomitch- Hey! Did you spot your cameo? (Don't ask how the subject of Jade in a pink tutu came up, because I'm not sure _I_ want to know either…) Eh, Silver doesn't scare me. At least, no more than some of Kairi's characters… or Kairi herself when she's hyper. Okay… Well, he dropped by and then left. Dunno where he is now. And okay. That's fine. (Wait, when did I say Roran was dead?) Silver- Er, hello. Yup…**

**Tony: Now that that's done… Please review, and I will post a picture of Leon in an 1800s-style dress.**

**Leon: YOU WILL NOT!**

**Tony: -laughing- No… but Kairi did send me a picture of her in her mother's 1800s costume, which the link for is in my profile, if you feel like it.**

**Leon: -shudders- You better not draw me in a dress…**

**Tony: Oh, don't worry. If anyone draws you in a dress, it'll be Kairi.**

**Leon: That doesn't make me feel any better…**

**Tony: -laughs- So, yeah… please review. In fact… Can we try to make it to 40 reviews before chapter 20? (Leomitch, your different characters don't count.) That's… this chapter, next chapter, and 19… (If we make it to 40, I might have something extra special for everyone, in the form of a special chapter/one-shot.)**


	18. Chapter XVIII, Assassins

**Tony: So then. I'm back a week late again. I apologize, but the second half of this chapter just didn't want to come out. I blame Ellie. Especially since it took an argument with Kairi to get the second half of the chapter rolling, and Ellie is the only one of her characters that pops up in this chapter. So, everything else at the bottom. Read and enjoy, because I don't own TotA!**

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><p><strong>Chapter XVIII<strong>

**Assassins**

Sirris sighed as she spotted Jade and Guy on the balcony overhead. The expression on Jade's face was one of horror, and Guy was terrified. General Nordheim and his soldiers had surrounded her the moment they had realized it was her. Jade let out a choked cry as they forced her into chains, and she shot him a cold, lime-green glare.

"Don't," she said quite simply. The duo watched, shocked, as the military took Sirris away. As the doors closed, Jade stepped back and slumped to the floor. Guy opened his mouth to say something, but then realized that there was nothing he could say.

Jade had tried to fix things up with Sirris… But now there was no way he'd have a chance to do it. Guy kept looking between the colonel, who was trying to regain any control he had, and the door… where another figure was standing. Guy couldn't see him clearly, because the sunlight was shining in behind him, but the young noble could have sworn that the man was staring at Jade.

Guy took a deep breath and headed down the stairs, with a still-recovering Jade on his heels. The colonel had noticed their visitor as well.

Guy and Jade stopped once they could finally see who it was. Brigadier General Aslan Frings looked an awful lot like Jade did at that point. Shocked, confused… and guilty. Jade's face slowly morphed into an emotionless mask as he stepped toward Frings.

"_You_ told them?" he asked simply. Frings nodded, unable to make eye contact with Jade. The colonel closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and turned to look at Guy. "Go to Daath and inform Anise and the Fon Master, and grab Tear, Asch and Natalia on your way back here. I'll find the others," he ordered. Guy nodded, but Frings looked uncomfortable.

"Jade, if you—" he started, breaking off when Jade's crimson gaze came back to him.

"You can inform Peony that we'll be back shortly," he told the general before walking past him. Guy sighed and headed out to the port, while Jade headed back to his office. He knew where the files were now, which meant he should be able to figure out where the Guild Headquarters were.

Less than an hour later, Jade found himself walking down a hallway that was barely lit by the candles spaced evenly along the walls. There was a door at the end, and he knew he was risking a lot more than just Sirris's life here.

He opened the door quietly and slipped inside, noting the large, arena-like practice area he now stood above. Down below, two faces he wanted to see and one he did not stopped and looked up at him.

Valon's expression was one of confusion, while Arashi's was relatively blank. Raven, on the other hand…

"And just what do you think you're doing here?" he spat at the colonel. Jade took a deep breath, and, ignoring him for the time being, looked directly at Valon.

"I need your help… Sirris has been arrested," he stated. Valon and Arashi exchanged a glance before the latter headed for the stairs. Valon, skipping the stairs altogether, launched himself off the floor and caught the balcony, flipping himself over the railing to land next to Jade.

Down on the practice arena floor, Raven rolled his eyes and retreated into his office.

Arashi and Valon looked at Jade expectantly. "General Frings told the emperor's council that Sirris was at my manor. They arrested her just earlier today. If we don't find some way to save her, she'll be executed within the week," he told them. Valon crossed his arms as Arashi spoke.

"Do you think if enough of us vouched for her they'd let her go, or at least not kill her?" he asked. Jade looked over at the Ion replica, who was deep in thought.

"I'm calling Ellie. She's good with this legal stuff, she'll be able to find a loophole," he muttered. "In the meantime… Gathering everyone we can to vouch for Sirris is all we can do," he added. Jade sighed.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Luke is, would you?" he asked. Valon frowned.

"No," he replied. "But I can pick Raven's brain." He then looked over at Arashi. "Do you think your sister would be of any help?" he wondered. Arashi sighed.

"That's if I can find her," he stated. "But I'll try." The silverette ran out of the arena, down the hallway Jade had come down. Valon had jumped over the railing and was headed across the sandy floor to the doors that led to Raven's office.

Jade sighed and braced his elbows against the railing as he buried his hands in his face. "Damnit, Risa, I'm trying!" he muttered. Then he let out a hoarse laugh. Knowing his luck, this was probably happening as revenge for all he had done wrong where those two were concerned. He sighed. There was no use in trying to avoid it. He had screwed up. The Necromancer had made a mistake. A really, really big mistake.

"St. Binah," Valon's voice rang out. Jade raised his head to look at the green-haired boy. "He left for St. Binah last night, by foot. You might be able to catch him by horse."

"Thank you," Jade said quickly as he turned and left, running down the hallway now rather than walking. He was thankful that his adoptive parents still had horses, because if they didn't that would mean going to Peony, and he really didn't want to run all the way to the palace to get a horse.

He was riding out of Grand Chokmah less than an hour later. Guy had long since left to gather up the others, and knowing that Arashi was at least going to try to find Amai was something that relieved him greatly.

Two days later, Jade led his tired horse into St. Binah. He figured that trying to find Luke on the road would be a difficult task, so he settled for waiting in St. Binah. He knew he didn't have a lot of time, though. He had to find the redhead, and soon.

Jade left the horse in the care of the innkeepers before he went to speak to Elder McGovern. He confessed that he hadn't seen Luke since the replica and Sirris had been through before the destruction of Akzeriuth, something that worried Jade greatly. He decided that the platform on the Soil Tree would be his best bet at finding the young man.

Two hours later, however, and he was left with no traces still. Jade sighed and leaned back against the trunk of the tree, watching as the sun dipped below the horizon.

He stayed up there for a while, though he wasn't for sure why exactly. Jade had a sinking feeling that he knew the answer to that, but that he simply didn't want to acknowledge it.

Regardless, he decided that it had probably been for the better that he had remained in the Soil Tree.

Down below, darting through the streets, was a familiar red and black blur.

Jade allowed himself a smile as he climbed down the ladder and set off in the same general direction that Luke had been going. He wasn't certain where the redhead was bound, nor did he reason he wanted to know why he was about at this hour.

He was simply happy that he had finally found him.

As the houses around him became slightly larger and more decorative, however, Jade began to have his doubts. Had Luke gone a different direction? Had he turned somewhere? Or worse, had he realized he was being followed by someone and deliberately gone a different direction to get him off his trail?

Jade stopped and took a deep breath, then backed into a doorway. He was certain Luke had come this direction. Now it was simply a matter of figuring out where exactly he was.

A muffled but short scream caught Jade's attention, though had he not been listening so hard, he wouldn't have heard it. Likewise, quiet curses in a familiar voice also reached him.

The colonel was unsurprised to see a dark figure jump out of an open window less than a block down from him just minutes before someone screamed. He rolled his eyes. "I hate it when I'm right," he groaned before taking off after the now-running figure. Jade had no difficulty figuring out that Luke was leaving town. He would too, if he had almost gotten caught.

The older man didn't quite have the stamina the replica did, however, and Luke managed to disappear ahead of him in the forest. He groaned quietly and slowed to a walk. Hopefully, Luke had been running straight for wherever he had set up his camp.

Jade decided that he should count himself lucky as he spotted firelight ahead of him. It was a small fire, but a fire nonetheless.

He stepped into the clearing and immediately found himself reflecting that it was an idiotic idea to startle an assassin, as he had a long, thin sword held against his neck almost as soon as he passed the trees.

The first thing Jade noticed about Luke was the blood that was dripping off of his hands. The second was the half-terrified, half-self-reprimanding look on his face. And then Luke sighed and sheathed his sword.

"Hello, Jade," he greeted the colonel. Jade took a deep breath and attempted to distract himself from the blood Luke was now wiping off his arms. However, unable to suppress his curiosity, he found himself asking the question that had been nagging at him for a while now.

"Was that your first assignment?"

Luke paused, then continued cleaning his hands up. "No. He was my third," he answered. Satisfied that he wasn't going to get any more of the blood of off his hands, he turned back to Jade and smiled bitterly. "Lightest sleeper though. Or maybe I should have waited longer. Either way, I botched it."

Jade sighed. "Judging from the woman's screaming, not entirely," he said grimly. Luke sat down next to the fire and examined his hands, stained an ugly brown from the blood.

"I take it you saw me leaving?" he asked. Jade nodded.

"I've been trying to find you all day," he admitted. "I caught sight of your hair from the Soil Tree and headed in the same general direction. Then I lost track of you and stopped. Next thing I know, you're jumping out of a window, someone's screaming, and I'm trying to keep up with you."

Luke chuckled. "That sounds a little backwards… Like me trying to follow Sirris half the time," he said. He looked up from his hands and examined Jade's face, from its unnatural paleness to the dark circles under his eyes. "Something happened," he realized. Jade closed his eyes.

"Sirris has been arrested," he informed the redhead. Luke clenched his fists as he glared at the fire.

"When?"

"Two and a half days ago."

"You came by horse?"

"Yes."

Luke nodded. "I'll head back in the morning," he said. Then he looked back over at Jade. "You go back in the morning as well. You'll beat me back to Grand Chokmah, but I'll be there by nightfall on the second day. Have everyone at the Assassins' Guild Headquarters by then."

Jade frowned. "What about Raven?" Luke smirked.

"Raven may be Guildmaster, but both Valon and I will let you and the others in. Besides, everyone else will be out on assignments for the next few weeks. If there's one thing I picked up from Sirris, it's speed," he replied. Jade smiled, the tiniest flicker of hope starting to rekindle inside him.

Maybe, just maybe, they could pull this off.

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><p>Jade had decided, early on, that watching Ion holding a conversation with two different versions of himself, one of whom was female, was… interesting, to say the least. Valon hadn't been joking when he said that the only thing wrong with Ellie was her gender.<p>

She also wasn't a bad fighter, as Luke quickly figured out. She and Valon tag-teamed against him and Asch, and, after the two redheads managed to pull out a combo on Valon that took him out, she had taken down Asch easily before managing to evade every attack Luke sent her way.

Her fighting style, he realized, was very much hit and run. Ellie didn't dare cast artes without backup, instead choosing to stay out of his reach for a while before rushing in to attack him. He rarely managed to hit her on her way out.

So, he was left with few options. One of them included trying to keep up with her, but that involved speed he didn't have. Sirris, on the other hand…

"Someone called for help?" a familiar voice rose over the noise. Luke and Ellie stopped and looked up. Standing up on the balcony were Amai, Arashi, and, shockingly, Cloud. Cloud had been the one to speak.

Arashi jumped down off the balcony, while his older siblings came down the stairs.

Ellie sheathed her sword, and Luke did the same, while the rest of the group gathered in a rough circle. Rue and the Dark Wings were there as well, as were Noelle and Ginji. Even Raven was sitting in on the gathering, though Luke and Valon both seemed to attribute that to the fact that they were holding said gathering in his guild headquarters.

No one seemed to care.

"Alright, so… Sirris was arrested four days ago by the Malkuth military under charges of mass murder and is due to be executed at dawn in three days," Luke summarized. Ellie was sitting on the ground, looking very thoughtful.

"She's not registered?" she asked. Luke shook his head.

"No… How much did Valon tell you?" he inquired. The green-haired girl shot a glare at the replica in question.

"That he had a friend who needed help and that my legal knowledge would be helpful, considering my knack for finding loopholes within the law," she said. "That was pretty much it."

Jade sighed. "Sirris was raised by her uncle to kill. He didn't register her in the Assassins' Guild, so that left her vulnerable to the law. Up until now, she's done fine at avoiding the military, except…" he trailed off.

Ellie raised an eyebrow. "How long has she been working as an unregistered assassin?" she inquired.

"It's been… what? Seven or eight years now?" Asch asked Jade. The colonel nodded, and the green-haired girl on the ground crossed her arms.

"If she's been dodging the military for eight years, then why did they capture her this time?" she asked. Jade sighed.

"I asked her to come live with me. I wanted to try to fix the mess I made by giving her up to her uncle. But the military found out where she was and came in to arrest her," he explained. Ellie nodded, understanding crossing her features.

"I see. She gave herself up instead of fighting, didn't she?" she asked. Jade nodded. "She didn't want to get you in more trouble than I'm certain you're already in."

"Wait, what? What do you mean by that?" Natalia asked. Raven narrowed his eyes, and after a very short but totally silent message was passed between him and Ellie, he sat up, rather than leaning back as he had been.

"Look at it this way. Jade's a colonel in the military. Sirris is an extremely wanted murderer. As it is, he could well lose his position for harboring her," he said. "Had Sirris fought back, of course, he likely would have been spurred into action as well, in an attempt to defend her."

"In which case, they both would have been arrested," Luke realized. "Sirris for murder, and Jade for aiding and abetting."

Ellie sighed. "Jeez, Valon. Talk about a trial by jury from hell. And all things considered, she's probably not going to get even that," she mumbled. "And you expect me to find a loophole. In two days." She flopped onto her back and groaned. "Okay, okay. I'm thinking."

The group stared at her for a moment before Guy, who had been periodically switching between messing with his gloves and crossing his arms while glaring at a certain red-haired replica, finally marched over to Luke, who seemed to be mildly distracted by the sandy floor, and punched him in the face.

Or rather, tried to.

Luke ducked out of the way, drawing a small knife as he did so, before realizing who his attacker was and putting the knife away.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he asked, finally releasing a large deal of pent-up stress. Natalia, Tear, Arashi, Anise, and Ion stared at him in shock, while Ellie, Valon, Jade, Raven, and Rue watched interestedly. Amai and Cloud's expressions were very difficult to read, but they seemed rather bored.

Asch's expression was somewhere between the raging anger that defined Guy's current mood and pride, though no one could fathom why.

Luke's expression stayed very much neutral as he replied, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Guy aimed another swing at him, and again, Luke dodged, putting a bit more distance between them this time. Unfortunately, that left him close to Asch, who, after nodding at Guy, promptly shoved his replica into the next punch the blonde nobleman threw.

Luke, who was now sitting on the ground in shock after having completely lost his balance, stared up at Guy. "What was that for?"

"I'm trying to knock some sense into you!" he rebuked almost instantly. "What happened to the guy that was scared to death of the blood on his hands? You could barely attack a human back then, let alone kill one! And it wasn't that long ago, either!"

Luke's confusion melted away into a cold mask of indifference, one that they all recognized all too well.

It was the same look that Raven got whenever the subject of assassination assignments came up.

It was the same look that crossed Valon's face whenever faced with a human target in real life.

It was the same look that Sirris always had whenever she was battling.

It was the same look that every assassin seemed to develop for situations where they deemed emotions unnecessary or a hindrance.

And it scared them. It didn't scare Valon or Ellie or Raven, or Rue, Amai, or Cloud for that matter. But it scared the rest of them, because Guy was right.

It had only been a matter of months, but the boy who had been so afraid of killing that he didn't want to fight had developed this terrifying capacity for murder.

Asch wasn't certain if what he felt was fear of what he knew his replica was capable of, or anger at him for forcing himself to change so quickly.

"It was my choice," Luke said, breaking everyone out of their stupor. "Sirris presented it to me between Engeve and Grand Chokmah, and I made up my mind after Akzeriuth."

Guy, whose anger seemed to have simmered out, sighed. "Yeah, she said that too," he muttered. "But I still can't bring myself to believe that you would want to become an assassin." Luke stood and grasped his shoulder. No words were exchanged, but none were needed.

The area was silent for some time before Ellie sat up. "Wait a second, I want to make sure I'm interpreting this right," she said, getting everyone's attention. She looked over at Luke. "You said Sirris presented you with the choice of becoming an assassin. Does that mean she's your mentor?"

Luke looked at her in confusion for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, why?" he replied. Ellie held up a hand as she thought for another moment. She looked up at Jade next.

"Who taught Sirris?" she asked. Jade crossed his arms.

"Her uncle, Roran," he replied. She looked over at Raven, who seemed to understand her silent inquiry perfectly.

"He was registered for some time, but after his registration expired the second time, he didn't renew it," he told her. Ellie nodded and started drawing things in the sand. The images were simply crude pictures of abstract items and such, but after a while, she grinned.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she began, looking up at the group around her. "I've found our loophole."

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><p><strong>Tony: Thank you Ellie for taking over this chapter! -hugs the girl in question-<strong>

**Ellie: Um... You're welcome, I guess?**

**Tony: Now, go get to work on the next one!**

**Jade: I thought that was my job...**

**Tony: Whatever! Just go get to work! -shoves all characters out of room-**

**Leon: That's nice.**

**Tony: That means you too, Leon.**

**Leon: -doesn't move-**

**Tony: -sigh- Oh well. Anyway, reviewer responses!**

**Leomitch-**** Hey, that's fine. And about the whole pink tutu scene... Well, you can thank an overly-hyper Kairi and a grumpy Winx for that one. I have no idea how the subject got onto ballet, but it did. And then, somehow, Jade got involved. That was one of the strangest coversations I've ever had... Yes, Luke is part of the Assassins' Guild. (Which is a good thing, because as it's been stated already, if he weren't he'd just be another murderer like Sirris.)**

**Twili Princess Hyrule Queen-**** Has anyone ever told you how long your username is? For someone who's up at a ridiculous hour of the morning, it's kinda hard to get typed... Anyway, I will. I am bound and determined to get this finished. And on January 20, no less.**

**Tony: So, any guesses as to why I want to finish on January 20? No, really, take a guess. We're really close to the end now, which is a bit of a shocker, but hey. That's pretty awesome, if you ask me. Oh, and remember we were trying to get to 40 reviews before chapter 20? It's 41 now (blame Leomitch being half-asleep) but the chapter I'm considering adding will be a nice bit of fluff between the end of Bloody Nightshade and Bloody Heirloom, which will also act as an addition to the bridge chapter that the second part of the chapter will no doubt be.**

**Leon: Basically, if you want that extra chapter, get reviewing.**

**Tony: That's right! And we'll be back next week, since we were a week late with this one...**


	19. Chapter XIX, Watermint

**Tony: And once again, I'm back a week later than I had planned… I promise I won't let this become a habit! I WILL update NEXT week on Monday!**

**Leon: Uh-huh…**

**Tony: -growls- Anyway, you all can thank Kairi for the second half of this chapter… again… To be honest, I knew kinda generally what I wanted to happen, but that left me with 1.5k worth of words short, so Kairi suggested the other part. I must say, as much as I hate Roran, he was interesting to write… Well, reviewer responses at the bottom. I don't own Ray, it belongs to Namco (different game, but oh well), and Ellie belongs to Kairi. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Nineteen - Watermint<strong>

The dungeons were silent. Of course, as early in the morning as it was, Jade was unsurprised. The sun had yet to rise over the horizon, and yet here he was, taking the steps one at a time as he headed down into the dark, dank dungeons that rested underneath the palace.

Aslan Frings followed him, under orders to keep him from doing anything in an attempt to release Sirris. The majority of the palace knew that she was his daughter now, a fact that was mildly unsettling for him.

Jade stopped at the bottom of the steps and looked back at Aslan, who was sitting on the third step without a word. He took a deep breath and started forward again.

He was at least two-thirds of the way down the long hallway when he finally found her. Sirris was sitting on the metal bunk, braiding a few pieces of string together. Judging from the frayed look to the end of her dress, Jade guessed that she had torn the string out of her clothing so that she would have something to do.

"You never were very patient," he said out loud. Sirris shrugged, her face remaining expressionless as she continued intertwining the string.

"No, not really," she agreed. She sighed, bundled up the string, and tossed the small ball of thread at the wall. It didn't travel very far, but Jade got the point. "If they're going to execute me, then why the hell do they have to wait a whole week?" she grumbled. Jade allowed himself a small but sad smile.

"It's a court procedure, in case someone finds evidence of innocence," he said. Sirris glared at him.

"I'm not innocent. I'm not even trying to pretend I'm innocent," she replied. The look on her face told Jade all he needed to know, and he sighed.

"No, but we did find a way to keep you from execution," he told her. Sirris rolled her eyes.

"Heh. Yeah. Right. Whatever," she muttered. She crossed her arms, staring intently at the far wall, while Jade shifted to leaning on the bars of her cell.

"We've yet to run it past the council, as they haven't assembled yet, but we found a loophole. We can get you out, long enough to find Roran and bring him before them. If he is found guilty, you'll be cleared," he continued. Sirris sighed.

"And what if you can't? What if your loophole falls through?" she asked. Jade's fist clenched around the bar. He couldn't decided if he was angry at Sirris for suggesting such a thing could happen, or if he was trying to suppress thoughts of what would happen if she was right. "You think I _want_ to die at their hands?" she inquired a while later.

Jade looked up at her for the first time since he'd brought up the loophole. Sirris's eyes were green, and they revealed more emotions than he'd expected. Sadness, he thought he understood. Anger and resignation, he felt he could explain as well.

But underneath all of it, even the resignation, there was a very, very deep-rooted determination. And that, Jade realized, he couldn't explain at all.

Sirris reached into a small pouch at her waist and pulled out a single leaf, holding it up to the light that was now filtering through the barred window above her bunk so that Jade could see it.

The sight of that one leaf froze Jade's heart.

The guards didn't allow any kind of poison into the dungeons, but the plant in Sirris's hand wasn't poisonous in the least. A bit rare, maybe, and definitely hard to get to, but not poisonous.

"I'm here because I want to be," Sirris said, every word freezing Jade's insides. "I'm not going to die at their hands, because they mean absolutely nothing to me. If I'm going to die, I'll die by my own hand. Or, I suppose technically, yours, since you passed the gene for watermint intolerance on to me."

Jade opened and closed his mouth twice before he gave up and closed his eyes for a moment. He shook his head. This was not how he had wanted this to go at all.

"Promise me," he started. He looked up and met his daughter's eyes, determined not to look away this time. "Promise me you won't eat it unless our negotiations fall through."

Sirris looked at the watermint in her hand quietly, as if she were examining her hands rather than the leaf. She slipped it into her pouch and crossed her arms before directing her gaze towards what little sky she could see from her position on the bunk.

Jade stood there, staring at her, for many minutes before she sighed and closed her eyes. "I promise I won't eat it unless they come for my life," she told him. Jade took a deep breath.

"Thank you."

* * *

><p>Luke looked between Asch, Valon, Ellie, Ion, and Guy. Valon wore a hood, and Ellie's hair hung loose, unlike the tight style she had worn the day before, so her face was partially hidden. Luke's hair was in its normal braid, while Asch's was loose as usual.<p>

Guy was fidgeting, however. He kept looking east, then looking at the palace, then back east. Luke knew he was judging the time that Jade had been gone, and the redhead himself had to wonder how the conversation was going, because Jade had been gone almost an hour now.

"There he is," Ellie warned them. Sure enough, Aslan and a shaken-looking Jade were walking towards them. Luke clenched his right hand into a fist.

"What happened?" he asked as soon as Jade was in range. The colonel took a deep breath before replying.

"Sirris has watermint," he stated. Luke, Asch, Guy, and Ion exchanged confused looks, but Ellie and Valon became grave.

"Is she intolerant?" Valon asked, already knowing the answer. Jade adjusted his glasses and took a deep breath.

"Yes. I passed that gene to her," he replied. Ellie crossed her arms.

"If she eats that before we can talk the council out of executing her…" she started. Jade shook his head though.

"No, she won't eat it. She refuses to die by the military's hand though," he told her. Valon sighed.

"So basically, if the council doesn't do this, she'll be dead before they can execute her," he summarized. Jade nodded, and Valon scratched the back of his head. Well, hood, technically.

Luke sighed and crossed his arms. "I guess we'd better get this over with then, huh?" he suggested. Ellie nodded, and Jade turned to Aslan.

"The council should be assembled by now," he said, leading them all into the palace this time. However, rather than heading down, into the dungeons, he was headed up, towards the council chambers.

The council, by that time, was, indeed, assembled. Luke noted a distinct lack of the total of twenty members, however, and knowing that the decision to execute Sirris had been unanimous, he was surprised to see that two of them weren't present. This fact mildly annoyed him, but he figured that at least they had most of the council's ears.

"As I understand it, you come before us, offering evidence in favor of Sirris Balfour," the emperor began. Certainly, he couldn't over-rule the council, but he could at least help them push the old farts along.

"So to speak," Ellie spoke up, weaving around Jade and Asch so that she was closer to the front. The head of the council sighed, shooting something reminiscent of a glare at Peony.

"Very well. Continue," he said. Jade took a deep breath, realizing that he had been holding his breath unintentionally. Asch, it seemed, had done the same.

"Sirris Balfour was raised as an assassin by Roran Sylar, who, at the time he began training her, was still a registered assassin," Ellie began. "Sirris herself is mentor to Luke fon Fabre, who stands beside me. He, like Roran originally was, is registered."

One of the council members, who looked a bit uncomfortable until then, perked up slightly, though only the trained eyes of Jade, Luke, Valon, and Ellie caught it. The other council members, it seemed, were simply bored by her speech.

"So what?" the lone female on the council asked. Ellie took a deep breath to speak, but the member who had perked up earlier chuckled, cutting her off.

"So…" he began. Chuckling the whole way, he said, "As long as the apprentice, with the consent of the guildmaster, of course, requests to be trained by his mentor, we can't execute her."

"What?! Ridiculous!" the head council member yelled. "Sirris Balfour was never a registered member of the Assassins' Guild, her apprentice cannot be until his training is finished unless someone within the Guild takes it up!" The man shrugged.

"Except, if Roran Sylar began training Sirris as early as they say, while his own registration was still valid, then while she is not a registered member herself, her apprentice can actually be registered and still legally be her apprentice," he stated. "A rather interestingly complex bit of the law. I must say, I'm surprised you found it," he added, nodding toward Luke and Ellie.

Ellie allowed herself a slight smile. "I don't like being told that something's impossible," she told him, resulting in a small smile crossing his face.

The head council member was still not pleased. So, after a long and extremely boring process of confirming that Roran's registration had, in fact, still been valid when Sirris had run away, which was after her training had begun, and that Luke was, indeed, registered, as well as making sure that he had Raven's consent, carried in written form by Valon, the council found themselves in a tight position.

They could, of course, refuse to release Sirris on probation and carry through with the execution scheduled for the morning after next, but as both Peony and the man from earlier pointed out, they would be breaking their own laws by doing so, because they would be refusing Luke the right to petition, and on top of that being highly immoral in general, because as Sirris had registered him with Raven, who was the head of the Malkuth Assassins' Guild, the redhead was, technically, a citizen of Malkuth, meaning that they couldn't even use that to refuse him.

The head council member massaged his forehead, obviously tired of having to deal with this. "Very well," he groaned, before giving in and looking down at the group below them. "Sirris Balfour will be released on probation until such time as her apprentice's training is complete."

Though they all tried to hide it, everyone in the group was pleased. Peony gave Aslan the keys to Sirris's cell, and the other seven left to stand outside the palace.

Once outside, Valon hugged Ellie tightly. "Thank you!"

Luke and Asch laughed, while Ion smiled. Guy and Jade, however, had their minds on other things.

"You know we're going to have to find him really soon, don't you?" the blonde swordsman asked. Jade nodded.

"Yes, I know. Luke learns too fast," he replied. Guy sighed.

"He has to pull in the quota that Sirris can't though. That'll put some holes in their training," he said.

Jade sighed. "We're still not going to have a lot of time… and that's assuming Roran's even still alive," he told him.

"If Nigai thinks she's got a use for 'im, he'll be alive," Arashi said as he walked over. Luke and Asch gave him a look.

"You're almost as bad as your sister," the replica commented. The boy laughed.

"Not really. I can't teleport," he replied. Then he looked back over at Jade. "By the way, sis' and Kumo left."

Jade raised an eyebrow. "Do you call him that on purpose to annoy him, or do you just not like the word 'cloud'?" he wondered. Arashi grinned, though the look on his face told Jade that he was better off not asking again.

He sighed and turned back toward the palace, resisting the urge to smile when he spotted the familiar redhead following Aslan out.

* * *

><p>"But if we don't take out Jade, they'll be left with a strong center-point and damn good fonist that'll annoy the hell out of us if we try to go after someone else!"<p>

"And yet at the same time, I feel as if you are biased. You do have a bone to pick with Sirris and her father, after all."

The argument that was proceeding between the first man and the woman was interrupted by a sigh and an irritated:

"Would you two stop arguing for a moment?! I'm trying to see!"

The woman immediately shut up, while the first man crossed his arms and leaned up against the nearest wall. Candle light flickered across silver-blue hair as Skye rubbed his forehead for a moment.

Some time later, he opened his eyes, walked over to the table, where a large map was pinned down, and started adjusting the colored and distinctively-shaped pins there. Once he was done, he looked up to find amethyst eyes examining his work with something similar to contempt.

"Now what's with all this mess?" the other man asked, walking over to the table and pointing at a very large grouping of pins about where Grand Chokmah should be. Skye went back to massaging his temples.

"'This mess' is why I've got such a headache, Roran. You'll notice the three silver pins in the midst of it," he grumbled. Roran's green eyes picked out the silver pins in question, one a music note, one a knife, and the third a shield.

"Your brother was trying to hide something from you?" Nigai wondered, brushing pine green hair out of her face slightly. Skye smiled grimly.

"Oh, trying. Failing, but trying," he replied. Then he took a deep breath and pointed at a black leaf. "Sirris was arrested five days past, as I'm sure I've already told you. However, she has been released on probation in order to complete the Luke replica's training."

Nigai cocked her head to the side. "And there are really three Ion replicas there?" she asked, gesturing to the green pins. Skye nodded.

"The seventh, which is no surprise. The sixth, which, again, is no surprise, considering his recent involvement with that group. The third Ion replica present, however, is the second," he explained. Nigai looked mildly surprised.

"So, she survived as well," she muttered. Her eyes narrowed, locked onto the little green pin in the shape of a book, which Skye had had to add to the numerous pins on the map just moments before. Roran crossed his arms again.

"I take it your original plans for Sync have been changed?" he asked. Nigai nodded.

"Yes. Not only will we be after a female, but she'll have all of the original Ion's powers as well, not to mention the fact that we won't have to go swimming in the core to find her," she replied. Then she looked over at Roran. Skye was the one to speak, however.

"But what about you? With Sirris out of jail and not due to be executed, your own plans won't work out either," he stated. Roran looked thoughtful for a long time.

"I have an idea…" he started. He then laid out his plan in front of Nigai and Skye. They exchanged looks at his idea, then Skye started pointing out things of his own.

A few hours of poring over maps and planning later, the trio nodded in unison, having agreed, finally, over one that might work.

Emphasis on the word 'might', mind you.

Roran was the one to lead the way outside. He had, after all, given the duo their current base of operations. And, as they emerged out of the small but complex system of man-made caverns underneath Mt. Roneal, the siblings smirked, both thinking something along the same lines as what the other was currently entertaining.

The home of the former assassin was a very good base.

"So it seems you made it out of the avalanche without my friends' help."

Roran, Skye, and Nigai turned to their lefts to see Arietta walking up to them. Roran scowled.

"So it seems I did," he responded. Arietta stopped a few dozen feet away.

"You didn't stop Anise's group from defeating the commandant," she accused. Though Roran could tell it was supposed to be a statement, he could hear the undertones that made it an accusation.

"I had my hands full," he told her. Arietta raised an eyebrow.

"With what? Sirris couldn't have possibly held you off all on her own," she asked. Roran crossed his arms, looking like he'd taken a bite out of something particularly nasty.

"You're right. But lets see here… Van versus Tear, Anise, Guy, and Natalia, as well as Luke, who, as I'm sure you know, is twice as strong as the rest of them, no thanks to Sirris pushing him hard, plus Jade, whenever he didn't feel like throwing an arte out at me," he said. "And then we have me against Sirris and their little brother, who's a damn good fighter in his own right."

Arietta growled. "You shouldn't have been fighting as two separate groups then," she told him. Roran sighed.

"Well excuse me for screwing up. Let it be known, however, that Sirris landed the final blow against Van. I had absolutely no idea that she was going to toss her Thunder Blade at him. That, and I was avoiding the other brat's attacks at the time, which, as you may or may not find out, is a full-time job," he grumbled.

Nigai sighed, obviously bored with the whole exchange, and stepped between Roran and Arietta. "Okay, I get it, you're annoyed because he didn't protect your precious commandant. Now if you'll excuse us, we had a previous engagement," she told Arietta before stepping past her. Roran and Skye followed.

They weren't halfway down the mountain before they found another problem, however.

"And here we were, considering asking you for help again," Largo stated, resting his scythe on his shoulder. Legretta looked mildly annoyed as well, not a difficult task, considering her, Roran noted. A noise from behind him prompted him to turn, only to find Arietta and a liger standing there. He scowled.

"You three really want to fight?" he asked as Legretta drew her guns. He wasn't surprised, of course, but it really was an annoyance he didn't feel like dealing with. Nigai sighed and glanced over at Skye, who had a bit of a smirk on his face. She then glanced over at Roran, who, while he did already have a set of knives out, didn't look like he wanted to fight. She rolled her eyes.

"Nice to know I'm not the only who thinks this is a waste of time," she mumbled, loud enough that Roran, who was only a couple of feet away, could hear it, but Skye, who had backed away from the others a bit to give himself room, couldn't. Roran rolled his eyes as a darkly-colored staff with a decorative end appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Let him handle Largo. Those two ought to have some fun," he muttered back.

Largo shifted his scythe so he was actually holding it at the ready, while Legretta shifted into a more battle-ready pose and the liger moved in front of Arietta. Roran settled his weight onto his right foot, ready to switch at any moment.

Nigai looked over at Skye again and sighed before holding a hand to her chest. "O song of Angelic embrace … _Kuroa Neu Va Toue Zue Ryou Kuroa Ryou Toue~_" she sang, more to herself than anyone else. Unsurprisingly to Roran, the healing glyph appeared around Skye, who rolled his eyes.

"I'm not _that_ reckless," he grumbled. Roran chuckled.

"Maybe not, but I agree with your sister. Better safe than sorry," he replied. Then, before any more comments could be made, all hell broke loose.

As Nigai was preparing another hymn, Roran did his best to cover her. She managed to finish her hymn before a Bloody Howling, courtesy of Arietta, landed on top of her. Of course, she had sent her hymn out for Roran due to the fact that he was currently in a 'match' against Legretta, trying to see which of them was faster.

After another round of Roran holding off Legretta and Skye fighting both Largo and the liger with the scythe that his staff had become, Nigai finally managed to let off the last of her hymns, leaving Roran to attack Arietta and her liger, once said monster realized that he was attacking its master, while Nigai dashed across the field far faster than Roran could to engage Legretta.

Roran managed to take out the liger easily. It didn't exactly dodge his attacks, and with as quickly as he could land them, knocking the thing out was no problem.

"Bloody Howling!"

Roran muttered a number of expletives that he had learned from Sirris as he rolled out of the way. Certainly he had taught her a good many of the curse words and derogatory names that she knew, but people were always coming up with new phrases, and he didn't get out as much any more. And besides, their kind of work put them in a perfect position to learn more.

Roran growled as his thoughts reoriented on the battle at hand. Arietta had just started casting again, so he chanced a look around.

Largo and Skye were, predictably, slashing each other with scythes that, while at first may seem difficult to wield, were very deadly when handled by a master. Skye's smaller size and greater speed were doing him a lot of good here though, and for every blow Largo managed to lay on him, Skye was hitting him with two.

While their battle was predictable and relatively boring, however, Legretta's battle against Nigai was… interesting, to say the least. Nigai's hands were surrounded by a green aura, and any time she hit Legretta, the blonde woman would go flying, leaving Nigai time to cast. Once an arte was out of the way, Nigai would go back to attacking, and the glow around her hands was never the same color as the color before. Green, red, blue, yellow, red, blue, yellow, green… Always the same four artes as well, Roran noted, depending on which fonons she was using, as that could be the only explanation for the glow around her hands.

While Roran had been paying attention to that, Arietta had let off another Bloody Howling. This time, it landed right on top of Roran, causing to him to scream in frustration. Then he paused.

A moment later, he smirked again, and Arietta started running, trying to get to the other side of the battlefield where Legretta and Largo were.

Needless to say, Roran didn't feel like letting her get that far. One knife thrown into the ground near her feet with third fonons attached sent Arietta flying backwards, while Roran ran over toward her, grabbing his knife as he went. The moment she was on her feet again, he let loose a small shockwave, and Legretta was close enough that she stumbled back from it.

Arietta was sent flying again, of course, as she had been standing relatively close to him. Roran smirked.

"Too easy," he muttered, settling into a casting stance. "Eternal light, ever true and undefiled, grant this wanton sinner before me the majesty of thy judgment," he started chanting. A bright ball of light formed over Arietta while a large blue glyph formed below. "Ray!"

Arietta screamed and fell.

Roran smirked and turned to look at the other two. Largo and Legretta seemed to be agreeing on something, and a moment later, four large griffins descended, picking up the two that were still conscious, as well as Arietta and her liger.

Nigai huffed as they flew off. "How wasteful," she grumbled. Roran raised an eyebrow, then glanced over at Skye, who was very much scratched, cut, and generally torn up.

"She's referring to Mint's ability to harness pure fonons," Skye said. Roran stood there in confusion for a moment before he realized what the silver-blue haired man was saying.

"I see," he mumbled. Then he looked over at Nigai. "Well then. I believe we were heading to Grand Chokmah?"

The pine-green hair shifted slightly, the only indication Roran had that she had turned her head to acknowledge him. "Yes. Let's move quickly. No doubt those three will be back once Arietta's recovered," she muttered. Skye dismissed his scythe, the blade of which had disappeared, and crossed his arms.

"And here I was, contemplating offering to pull Van out of the core if our retrieval of the second Ion replica doesn't turn out well," he said. Roran chuckled, but Nigai growled at him.

"Don't jinx it."

* * *

><p><strong>Tony: Okay, so… You'll find out either next chapter or the chapter after (depending on how it gets written out), but… does anyone know what's up with Nigai? Because, I can assure you, there's something up here. I'll give you two hints. First… What color hair does every one of her other siblings have? And second… Why did Skye say 'Mint's ability'? Just some food for thought, everyone… The answer, if you can figure it out, is also why she's after Sync. Well, Ellie now, since she knows she's alive, but…<strong>

**Leon: You're rambling.**

**Tony: Sorry… Oh, and unless we get five reviews this chapter, we won't be getting that special chapter… Just warning everyone. Now then, reviewer responses!**

**TPQH- Obviously, I'm not going to keep fighting with trying to type out your username… Anyway, you're welcome.**

**Leomitch- Ahem… Did anyone else notice the fact that we are missing a couple of council members? Yes? No? …And also… -locks Frings in a room with a force field around it- NO! You will not kill him! …On another note, it's lovely as always to see you... And I don't think I want to get into whatever Silver is occupied with.**

**YUKIKO no Amaya- Hi! Nice to see you! Um… okay. I don't consider minds bursting open to be a good thing, but alas, I have Kairi and Winx to deal with. And my boyfriend. And Daniel. And my sister. So, yeah. Anyway, thanks for dropping by!**


	20. Chapter XX, Disappear

**Tony: For whatever reason, this chapter started out slow and then picked up so much speed that it shocked me… Also, Leomitch? I beat you to it. (I'll explain at the bottom.) Anyway, go enjoy. I don't own.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter XX<strong>

**Disappear**

Sirris watched as Luke made his rounds. Jade had explained their plan to her, the whole plan. And, while she had thought it a stupid one at first, she had to agree that no, it wasn't as dumb as it had originally sounded. Of course, with herself and Jade practically grounded in Grand Chokmah, Anise and Ion stuck in Daath, and Natalia busy, the number of people that could search for Roran was significantly less than she would have liked.

"Hey Luke, go take a break. I'm going to take a walk," she called out to the redhead. Luke crossed his arms.

"If Frings comes by and finds out you're not here…" he trailed off. Sirris shrugged.

"Tell him I'm mapping out a new route for you. Lord knows you memorize them fast enough," she said. Luke sighed, but left it alone, which Sirris was grateful for as she stepped onto the streets. She knew where she was headed, and the fact that she was going to let go of the best part of her life like this was something that she wasn't completely comfortable with.

However, she was also sick of seeing the rough transition in her hair between the honey-blonde and crimson. That, and she needed a cut anyway. Her hair was past her shoulders again. She knew exactly who to go to as well.

Guy was surprised to see her when she knocked on his door, but after a short argument and an even shorter explanation, the two of them found themselves in front of a mirror again. Sirris just smiled whenever Guy grumbled about not being her personal hair stylist, but it was all good-natured fun, and both of them were happy for the change in pace.

"So, other than talking another haircut out of me, what were you doing?" Guy asked as he finished up with the majority of her hair. Sirris had insisted upon trimming her bangs herself, which she promptly did the moment the scissors were in her hand.

"Well, I told Luke that if someone from the military came by to check up on me to tell them I'm mapping out a new course for him, so I might as well do that while I'm at it… and then I'm considering going a little more in-depth with his poisons. He only knows a basic few and how they kill," she replied.

Guy sighed. "That you can talk about stuff like that so easily should probably concern me. No offense Sirris, but I miss Topaz," he told her. Sirris's eyes, which had, for the most part today, been a deep emerald green, lightened into the color that Guy had been told her mother's eyes had been.

"Yeah, me too. I wish things were that simple," she whispered. Then she sighed. "Well, I'd best be off before someone decides to start looking for me. Namely, my father."

Guy just rolled his eyes and followed her to the door. Sirris had absolutely no problems with testing the limits of he probation, everyone knew that. He just wished she wouldn't push it quite so much.

Sirris, keeping true to her word, started wandering around town, mapping out a route in her mind. Luke's stamina was doing great, and his speed wasn't too bad. He'd made the run from Grand Chokmah to St. Binah in two days, so she wasn't too worried about that. But what about his agility?

Sirris crossed her arms and looked around. She didn't need him running through the crowds here, but she didn't necessarily want him running through back alleys so much. Some too-observant-for-their-own-good people would notice things like a teen running through an alley in the middle of the day.

The girl sighed. She had been hoping to avoid this, but as she was getting nowhere just standing around thinking, she had to come up with a route the old fashioned way.

Sirris took off running down an alley, using a couple of crates to give her the lift she needed to reach a small overhang. She jumped from that overhang onto the roof, where she stopped a moment to take a look around.

Now that Grand Chokmah was no longer at war, she could get to that one place again. Sirris stopped to consider the sanctuary for a moment, but no such consideration was necessary. She headed off toward the palace, and the waterfalls behind it.

She grinned as she started jumping from the roof of one building to the roof of the next. Her mind wasn't on Luke's training at all anymore. No, it was on the pure feeling of freedom that coursed through her veins while she was in midair above a gap between buildings.

She finally slowed as she reached the edge of the courtyard outside the palace. The large pillars were supposed to be purely decorative, but if you could get up onto the stone semi-circle they held up, you could use that as a walkway. And, let's face it. Who looks up?

Sirris took her time walking along on the stone, holding her hands out to the sides and putting one foot directly in front of the other, as if the walkway was a fifth of its real size and she had bad balance. A smile graced her lips as she reached the point where the waterfalls began. The water bubbled out an inch from each side of the ledge, and while the stone was wet, the unregistered assassin had absolutely no difficulties walking across it.

Where the pillars rose within the waterfall area, a square came up and out of the walkway, disrupting the water and leaving that square area dry. It was in a place like this that Sirris sat, staring out over the ocean as the waterfall raged down below her. Her eyes reflected the light blue of the water from the falls, and for the first time in a long time, she was completely peaceful.

* * *

><p><em>She hated him. That was all there was to it. She hated that lying, cold-hearted bastard. All she wanted to do was run. Run, far away from him, far away from Roran, somewhere where people will never find her, where she'll never have to deal with the people who hurt her ever again.<em>

_She knew it was impossible, but it was her dream regardless. 'One day,' she would tell herself. 'One day, it'll happen. I'll be free.'_

_She was still running, but now people were staring at her. She needed to get out of sight, someplace quiet, someplace she could be alone._

_She spotted a stack of crates, and a ledge she could use to reach the rooftop. A smirk wormed its way across her face as she jumped up onto the crates, then onto the ledge, then finally to the roof. She looked around. The roof was dingy, but she had this feeling in her stomach, much like the one she'd gotten when she had climbed into the highest branches of a tree in the Fabre Manor._

_Looking around, she spotted a not-quite-enclosed circle of pillars that encased the palace and its courtyards. On the far side, the pillars released waterfalls, and the girl examined the area carefully. The pillars and the stone they held up looked sturdy, enough that she could easily walk on it, but how would she get up there?_

_The answer came in the form of the military headquarters. She had just been there earlier, yes, trying to get… _him_ to change his mind about her. But, that had failed._

_A sour, dark feeling came back to her as her thoughts fell on _him_, so she ignored it and headed around, managing to reach the roof of the military headquarters easily. She then made a very careful jump onto the stone that was supported by the pillars._

_Some time later, after crawling along the pathway (she didn't trust herself to walk along it and not loose her balance), she reached the first of the waterfalls. There was plenty of space between the gushing spouts of water for her to continue crawling, but she didn't especially want to get soaked._

_Her fear of falling won out over her displeasure at getting wet. She wanted to see the view from the center of these falls, where she could look out over the entire ocean, view unimpeded by buildings and whatnot._

_The small, redheaded seven-year-old sat in the middle of the waterfalls finally, and stared out over the ocean in awe. The roaring of the water drowned out everything she didn't want to hear. It washed away the resentment, the pain, the grief, and the longing, leaving only a quiet, awed feeling in its wake._

_And Sirris smiled._

* * *

><p>Sirris sighed. She had been up here for at least an hour now. Someone was going to start wondering where she was.<p>

She stood and headed back the way she had come. Despite having picked up all of the burdens she had put down upon sitting, they weighed far less on her now that she had had a chance to relax. She smiled.

'Maybe, if this works out, I'll be able to come here more often,' she thought to herself.

A flash of blonde hair caught her attention, and she looked down expecting to see Guy. Rather than the blonde noble, however, she spotted instead the enigmatic blonde whom she had found in a tree in Theor Forest. She crossed her arms, noting his course carefully, and then took off, running now instead of taking her own sweet time.

Jumping from rooftop to rooftop was child's play for Sirris, and as she caught sight of the young man again, she grinned, running to an area ahead of him and jumping down to the street carefully, using a window ledge as a jump board to slow herself down before she hit the stone road.

She then managed to intercept the blonde in question.

"Going somewhere?" she asked. He looked at her in shock, obviously not expecting to see her so soon. He then began a frantic scramble for words, which Sirris held up a hand to stop. "Relax. Although, you might want to get yourself registered before you keep that up," she told him. He gave her a confused look, but before he could reply, Sirris was gone. The redhead-turned-blonde was jumping over the gate into the garden behind the Curtiss manor when she heard the raised voices.

"I don't know!" Jade yelled. Sirris felt sorry for whoever he was arguing with. Jade rarely raised his voice, but when he did, it was scary.

Remaining hidden behind a nicely-sized potted plant, Sirris got to watch the next few seconds of the argument.

To cut things short, since many curse words are used here, Jade was arguing with General Frings over his lack of knowledge regarding his daughter's location.

Sirris decided that enough was enough as she stepped out from behind the potted plant. Aslan stopped arguing the moment she came into view, while Jade, it seemed, was still rather annoyed.

"Where have you been?" he demanded. Sirris crossed her arms.

"I was trying to come up with a new course for Luke. Then I got sick of fighting with that and decided to spend a little while in my special spot," she answered. Aslan sighed.

"You know you're not supposed to leave here without supervision, right?" he asked. Sirris scowled.

"As if I'd let anyone at my special spot. I'd have ditched them the minute I decided to go there. And anyway, I had to run out a course to decide on it, and there's no way anyone other than maybe Luke or Valon would be able to keep up with me," she replied. Aslan scratched the back of his head.

"I can't keep covering for you when you do this kind of stuff, Sirris. I understand not wanting people to know about your special place, but if someone is looking for you and we can't find you, we'll be forced to assume that either you've run away or Jade has sent you out of town," he told her. Sirris scowled.

"If I tell you where my secret place is, you have to promise never to tell anyone else. Oh, and not to try and get there," she told him. Aslan crossed his arms.

"How can I figure out if you're there if I can't go?" he asked. Sirris sighed.

"Promise first, then I'll explain," she said. Then, looking over at Jade, she added, "You too."

"We promise," the two men chorused after exchanging a glance. Sirris turned and headed out of the manor. Aslan and Jade followed her, and once they were out in the garden, she could point.

"Past those buildings are the waterfalls behind the palace," she stated. "Up top, in the middle of the waterfalls. That's my special place. You can see it easily from the far side of the courtyard in front of the palace."

"Isn't that a bit dangerous?" Aslan asked. Sirris smiled.

"Only if you're afraid of heights and have bad balance. Neither of which apply to me anymore, so yeah… The top of the stone held up by the pillars is a really nice walkway. And, sure there's a little water in the middle once you get to the waterfalls part, but it's really peaceful," she told him. Jade sighed and slipped his hands into his pockets.

"Let me guess, you sit facing the ocean?" he muttered. Sirris nodded, and Jade looked over towards where the ocean was supposed to be. Buildings blocked the way, but he had enough of an imagination to allow for that. "Risa… always sat down at the piers whenever I saw her around town."

Sirris stopped and watched the expression on Jade's face. It always seemed to change whenever he started talking about Risa. Of course, normally he'd say one sentence, pause for a few minutes, and then would either leave or change the subject. The feelings she would see swimming in his eyes were never hidden though. Pain, regret, longing, hope, and, surprisingly enough, love. Tiny, miniscule amounts of that, of course, but it told Sirris all she needed to know.

Jade was willing to change. He'd learned his lesson.

And it struck bitter chords within Sirris's heart to think that she had, only two weeks before, been so willing to throw away her own life, when she had an idea of what Jade would feel if she did so.

She left him and Aslan then, heading toward her room. She wanted to stop and think for a moment. Curling up on her bed gave her more than enough space to think.

A quiet noise caught her attention though, and as she turned around, she spotted the intruder immediately. Not quickly enough to avoid the damp cloth he placed over her nose and mouth though. She was about to laugh at the idiot's stupidity when her heart rate quickened. It wasn't a drug on the rag…

It was miasma…

Sirris almost chuckled as her body shut itself down.

* * *

><p><strong>(1<strong>**st**** Person POV – Cloud)**

"Huh? Hey, I thought you guys left."

I turned to see Arashi running through the alley to catch up to me. I shrugged and took the last few steps towards the door, opening it and slipping inside. Arashi managed to slip in with me.

"It's just me. Amai's trying to find something out," I finally told him. Arashi started skipping ahead. Normally, I wouldn't let him, but this was Assassins' Guild HQ, so I didn't bother. I knew he had a friend here.

"What kinda somethin'?" he asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Speak normally or forever hold your peace around me," I grumbled. He grinned.

"I object!"

"You object to a lot of things, Arashi. Although, usually you just say 'no' repeatedly."

I chuckled at that comment as the redhead came down the hall. "Nice to see you too, Luke. I heard your plan to get Sirris out worked," I told him. Luke sighed.

"Yeah, but now we have to find Roran. And what's worse, Sirris has a tendency to push the boundaries on her probation," he replied. I sighed.

"Well, I supposed I could help with that. I've got nothing better to do right now," I told them. Arashi crossed his arms, but the freed one arm from the tangle to tap his forehead.

"Help like that, or help like this?" he asked, tapping right next to his eye once and then poking himself in the eye. A loud yelp resulted from that, while I just laughed. Sometimes, my little brother can be such an idiot.

"Eh, I haven't looked around like that in a while. Might as well, or Skye's going to have no difficulties blocking me," I decided. I looked over at Luke. "Got a nice-sized map somewhere?"

He crossed his arms. "Jade should have a few. Let's head over there," he suggested. I shrugged. I didn't especially care where I was right now. Amai had told me to come back here while she continued to search, but I had absolutely no idea why.

Unfortunately, we never reached the Curtiss manor. Luke was the one to spot the silver head moving away, and once he had shot off, Arashi and I had no difficulties spotting Skye. I growled under my breath and took off after my brother, but not before I saw the black-haired, green-eyed former assassin that was causing so much trouble.

"Arashi, turn around and head right! Go after Roran!" I yelled at the boy. He nodded once and turned to run back the way he had been going, while I shot past him. Skye was moving fast, but then, so were Luke and I. To make things worse, I could recognize that shade of pine green anywhere.

"We're not going to catch him before he reaches Nigai," I told Luke. The redhead groaned, seeing that my sister was already singing. By the time Skye was within her reach, the winds were already picking up.

I spotted a figure with short, honey-blonde hair in Skye's arms just before the two of them disappeared.

Luke and I reached the spot where Nigai had disappeared and stopped. "Great. Missed them," I grumbled. Luke looked around, apparently only now noticing the fact that we were short one annoying fourteen-year-old. Or is he fifteen now? I can never remember…

"Where's Arashi?" he wondered.

Yup. He hadn't noticed. "I sent him back after I spotted Roran. I realize he's the biggest problem here, but I have a bone to pick with my brother, so you'll have to excuse me if I find going after him a greater priority than going after Roran."

Luke sighed. "Come on. Let's try to catch up to them," he suggested. I nodded, heading back to where I had spotted Roran earlier. From there, I closed my eyes, looking around me in a way I haven't done in a while.

I managed to lock in on Arashi almost immediately, but as he seemed to be lost and with no indication of why he was where he was, I started searching for someone else instead. I distinctly remembered Jade as having a very dark red aura, maybe if I honed in on that rather than trying to find him in this crowd...

When I couldn't find him in town, I reach out a little further. Finally, the red aura I was looking for caught onto my radar. I smirked when I realized that he was chasing Roran as well.

I drew away and opened my eyes, letting the mild headache that always comes with seeing like that fade away before I started running. Luke was confused, but I didn't have the time to explain, not right now. Jade and Roran were heading for the forest, and the dark, dark blue aura I've always associated with Sirris isn't in Grand Chokmah either. Strange. Where could she have run off to?

It hit me so suddenly that I actually tripped over a drain pipe that I would normally avoid. Luke pauses. "Go!" I yelled at him. He was gone in a moment, whereas I was resting up against the wall and closing my eyes again. It couldn't have been Sirris that Skye and Nigai made off with, could it?

The sight of her red hair giving way to honey-blonde was evidence in itself, but I had to check anyway.

Finding my siblings was a pain, partly because I didn't bother to do this very often, and partly because Skye was blocking me. I've always been pretty good at locating his shields though. His talent with this gift is finding things quickly. Mine is hiding things, which I can do without making it totally obvious.

Wrestling my way through his shields, however, is going to be another story. I groan. I'll be here for a while. Especially since he seems to like reinforcing his barriers around me once I'm part-way in. A valiant effort at first, but now a rather effective method of trapping me.

I finally managed to get past Skye as the sun was dipping down in the sky. Roran was there, which was unsurprising, Nigai was asleep, and Skye, it seemed, had given up trying to fight with me in favor of looking after other people. But, there was no Sirris. Not there, at least, and I searched the whole area.

When my wide search area managed to encompass the Absorption Gate for only a moment, I caught onto something that I was sure did not belong there.

Let me tell you something. whenever I'm searching for something like this, I have pretty much a birds-eye view. However, anything below ground requires for me to go… well, below ground. So the first few times I did this, I got motion sickness.

That, and I'm afraid of falling and turning into a Cloud pancake now.

I felt like I was plunging down toward the ground. As the Absorption Gate reached me, I slipped through everything solid, heading straight down to where Arashi later told me the fight with Van occurred.

Sure enough, I spotted the dark blue aura easily once I was on that level. It was much dimmer than usual though, which meant that either she was dying, or she was comatose. I examined her as closely as I could, but to no avail. My guess, however, was that she was comatose rather than dying. Otherwise, I'm sure her aura would have been flickering, even a little.

I retreated back into my body and took a deep breath, then looked around. The sun had set beyond the walls of Grand Chokmah, but the life hadn't slowed down one bit. I shrugged and headed off to Jade's manor. Hopefully, everyone else would be there.

I walked in on what seemed to be a heated argument.

"I didn't have a choice!" Aslan Frings was yelling. Surprisingly, it was Guy that was arguing with him while Luke stood off to the side. I slipped around the room, carefully avoiding the two men that were fighting in the middle.

"What happened?" I asked Luke. His expression was grave, more so now than it had been earlier.

"Sirris is gone, Cloud. Since we couldn't find her, and the Malkuth military spotted Jade running out of the Theor Forest before returning much later, they're assuming that he helped her to escape…" Luke told me. I sighed and leaned against the wall next to him.

"In other words, Jade's been arrested because Skye and Nigai decided to kidnap Sirris," I muttered. Luke looked over at me in shock.

"Wait, you mean that was Sirris?" he asked. I opened my mouth, but as things seemed to be a bit too quiet, I looked over at Guy and Frings.

"You two done?" I asked.

"You know where Sirris is?" Frings inquired. I rolled my eyes.

"I know where Arashi's pet duck is," I told him sarcastically. Then I stopped and actually thought about it. What had happened to that duck?

"Your brother ate it."

I looked over at Arashi in the doorway in confusion, then realized that I had said that last comment out loud. Then I smiled.

"So he can do something useful," I muttered. Arashi rolled his eyes.

"Just because you didn't like him…" he grumbled, very pointedly taking up temporary residence on the opposite side of the room. I shrugged.

"Whatever…" I replied. Then I turned back to Frings. "Actually, we can blame Skye and Nigai for Sirris's disappearance. And since Roran seems to be… Well, shit." I banged my head against the wall. "I am such an idiot."

"Uh, okay. What did you just figure out that none of us seem to have gotten to yet?" Guy wondered. I growled.

"Roran was the diversion. We need him to get Sirris out of jail for good, so he knew we'd go after him the moment we saw him. Especially Jade. He wasn't trying to get away from Jade, he was trying to lure him out of Grand Chokmah, into Theor Forest at least, and from the sounds of it, past it. Meanwhile, Skye is grabbing Sirris and Nigai is waiting for him so she can teleport them off," I told them. "Brilliant plan, really. Not helpful at all to our cause, but then, I think that's the point."

Frings looked concerned. "If they've framed Jade, we can get him and Sirris out at the same time. We just need proof that they were framed," he said. Guy sighed.

"And that's always the hardest part, isn't it?" he muttered. I ran a hand through my hair.

"They've left Sirris at the Absorption Gate. I'm not sure why, but she's comatose," I told them. Three suspicious looks were directed to me, while Arashi seemed to be plotting something.

"How do you know that?" Frings asked. I bit my lip. I didn't especially want to try to explain my ability, but…

"Everyone in our family has a special ability. Cloud and Skye can find anyone, anywhere, though while they can both find and hide people, Skye finds people better than he hides them and Cloud hides people better than he finds them," Amai explained, stepping into the room with Ellie on her heels.

The attention suddenly turned from me to her.

"What are you doing back here?" Guy asked. Ellie crossed her arms.

"I think I managed to uncover something, and if I'm right, it's exactly what both Nigai and Sirris were investigating. Well, Sirris was attempting to investigate it. Either way, it explains why she kept trying to capture Sync," she rambled. "Oh, and by the way… I've already taken the liberty of calling Noelle to bring one of the Albiores. We'll need one to get to the Absorption Gate, though I figured we'd need it regardless of where we're going."

* * *

><p><strong>Tony: So then… First off, I apologize for taking so long. I was going to update on Christmas rather than the day before, but family came over and mom wouldn't let me on the computer. And then I was busy trying to talk Kairi out of… stuff… (she was depressed in a really bad way) And then we had what we thought was a family emergency come up. It turned out to be an aunt over-reacting. So, yes. Insanity hit. Also, it may be hard to believe, but we are in the final stretch here. We'll have chapter 21 on January 7, followed by the final chapter on January 20. Anyone figured out why that date yet?<strong>

**Leon: You know, it's hard to believe you made it this far through a story.**

**Tony: Yeah, well, we may be in the final stretch but we're not done yet. Besides, just because we're in the final stretch for **_**this**_** story doesn't mean you guys have to say goodbye to these characters. There's a part II of Bloodline. And a part III. (Although I'm fairly certain that Part III takes place a quite some time after the end of the game… Part II, on the other hand, picks up where Bloody Nightshade is going to leave off. Well, about.)**

**Leon: Ahem…**

**Tony: Right, reviewer response-**

**Leomitch-**** You know, I wrote up the second cameo appearance, and two days later, you reviewed. I think I beat you to it. But, I'm probably going to stick you in there at least once more before Bloody Nightshade ends. 'Probably' just a random snippet in the last chapter that 'might' involve breaking the fourth wall and seriously confusing someone. (Yes, I've already gotten it written up… Even though the majority of 21 and not much of 22 has been written… just bits and pieces. I can't seem to get it all to come out at once…)**

**Tony: You know… I… I'm honestly a little scared about finishing this… I think I'm going to have to go back through a fix up some chapters of BN before I can get to work on BH though… Do all authors get like this when they know they're so close to finishing up a storyline?**


	21. Chapter XXI, The Pieces are Falling

**Tony: This was due… Monday. I finished it Wednesday night (around midnight) and I'm now posting it on Thursday. I apologize, but I had no inspiration to write, and then all of a sudden, Kairi handed over like, eight plot bunnies. So, this chapter was finished, and so was the last chapter, which still won't be posted until the twentieth. I don't own. Enjoy! Although, I do apologize for some of the repetitiveness... It was necessary.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter XXI<strong>

**The Pieces are Falling**

Sirris was not pleased. Part of it was due to the fact that her body was recovering from miasma for the second time in a year, and the other part was due to one of the voices she could hear nearby.

"If I jumped up and stabbed you right now, would you just freaking die already?" she grumbled. Two distinct chuckles and a familiar sigh replied as she sat up and stretched herself out.

Standing off to her left were Roran, Nigai, and a man that looked almost identical to Cloud. She noted that the highlights in his hair were blue rather than gray though.

A deep-throated growl and an exasperated sigh later, Sirris decided that she didn't want to know how she had gotten to the Absorption Gate again. She stood and looked over at the trio. They didn't seem concerned at all to have her nearby. A quick inventory told her that she was itemless and weaponless, but she'd fought in situations like these before. Not against Roran and two people she didn't know of course, but she figured that running would work too.

"That won't take you back up until it's used to get down here again," Nigai told her as she approached the beam of light that would generally teleport people up and down through the Absorption Gate. Sirris sighed.

"So we're stuck here until the rescue party arrives, huh?" she muttered. Roran smirked.

"Not exactly," he replied. Sirris shot him a glare.

"Shut up!" she snapped. Nigai ran a hand through her hair, brushing her bangs back for a moment to reveal that her right eye, normally hidden by her pine-colored hair, was a brighter shade of crimson than Jade's eyes. This difference in eye color interested Sirris for a few moments, resulting in almost fifteen minutes of silence between them.

The Cloud look-alike walked over to the ledge where Van had fallen, looking down into the void below curiously. Nigai sighed.

"Why are you even bothering to look? It's not as if we'll need him," she said. Sirris crossed her arms.

"Need who?" she asked. Nigai looked over at the no-longer-a-redhead.

"Sync," she answered simply. Sirris raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" the assassin asked, drawing out the word slightly. Nigai sniffed.

"None of your business," she hissed. Sirris shrugged and looked over at the man by the ledge.

"By the way… who are you?" she asked. The man turned around, examined her for a minute, then with a short flash summoned his scythe, though it was bladeless.

"Hit me and I'll tell you," he challenged. Nigai and Roran shot each other looks before rolling their eyes and moving out of the way. Sirris settled into a casting stance, not bothering to answer properly before launching an Energy Blast at him. Skye laughed before charging at her, still without summoning the blade of his weapon.

He didn't think to correct that mistake until after Sirris landed a series of hits on him that knocked him back a few feet. He chuckled. "And that's what I get for underestimating you," he muttered. Sirris crossed her arms.

"Want to try again, mister?" she asked. He laughed and summoned the blade of his scythe.

"That's Skye to you, Sirris," he replied. The blonde smirked and back flipped twice, then headed around to his right. Skye whipped his scythe around, only to find Sirris slipping under it to go the other direction. He grinned at the challenge, gripping the handle further up than he normally did and chasing after her. Sirris rolled her eyes and simply ran faster, then rebounded off a wall and shot under Skye's scythe once again before landing a simple but distracting blow to his backside.

Her next strike was blocked by the shaft of his scythe, and Sirris flipped back out of the way twice, then a third time as a throwing knife embedded itself where she had been only a moment before.

"Stop holding out on him," Roran said, calling the knife back to him with a flash. Sirris rolled her eyes.

"Of course he would realize," she muttered. The next thing Skye knew, he was lying flat on his back, having been tripped by Sirris, with the handle of his own scythe at his throat, threatening to choke him. "Although I was having more fun holding myself back," she added, a little louder. Skye was looking up at her in utter shock, while Nigai smirked.

"I think someone needs to go train some more," she stated. Skye sighed.

"And here I was thinking I might actually be able to beat you," he muttered as Sirris got off of him and held a hand out to help him up. The assassin then turned back toward Nigai.

"Why are we down here, anyway?" she asked. The pine-green hair shifted as Nigai turned back around.

"We're here because I wanted to make an offer towards you," she said. "That, and your friends will likely come running after you, the second Ion replica in tow."

Sirris crossed her arms and found a wall to lean against.

"Continue," she said simply.

Skye rolled his eyes. "Either she picked that up from Arashi, or they really are just that similar," he muttered. Sirris shot a glance at him before returning her attention to Nigai, who had crossed a small portion of the space between them.

"My brother and I need allies. We would like to include you among them," she began. Sirris held up a hand, then pointed at Roran.

"Is he one of your allies? Because if so, you can count me out," she stated. Roran rolled his eyes.

"I suppose there's no real need for the phrase 'I told you so', is there?" he asked./ Nigai scowled.

"I don't require my allies to be on good terms with each other. I simply need the man power," she muttered. Sirris stepped forward a bit and crossed her arms.

"Let me think for a moment… No," she argued. "Not unless you can clear me of the murder charges I accumulated due to him not allowing me to register with an Assassins' Guild. And maybe not even then."

Skye glanced at Nigai, who smirked. "How about clearing you and your father both?" she asked. Sirris's shock only showed for a second, but it was enough.

"That's right. Jade's sitting in jail," Roran sneered. Sirris scowled.

"He wouldn't be if you hadn't kidnapped me," she snapped. Nigai motioned to Skye behind Sirris, who swung his scythe down on her. She turned, and a short flash of light shone around her right hand as she brought it up as if to block the blade, and cleared to reveal a dagger with a crimson hilt and a midnight-blue blade. "Oh, did you think I unarmed?" she taunted.

"Sirris!"

The blonde looked off to the side a bit a smiled at the sight of two familiar redheads, followed closely by three not-quite-silver-haired siblings and two green-haired replicas. Sirris pushed Skye's scythe away as he stood there in partial shock before rolling out of his reach and running to Luke, Asch, Amai, Cloud, Arashi, Valon, and Ellie.

"Eight of us, three of you. This is bound to end badly," Luke stated. Sirris settle into a defensive position, holding her dagger in a reverse grip in front of her. Nigai smirked.

"Oh really?" she asked. "Keep them occupied," she muttered to Roran and Skye, who had retreated so that he was nearer to her. They nodded before running forward, while Nigai ran around behind the group to get at Ellie.

Sirris, Luke, and Asch found themselves fighting Roran, while Arashi, Cloud, and Amai fought Skye. Valon stood in the center, casting fonic artes aimed for Nigai, who had very effectively separated Ellie from the rest of the group.

Sirris scowled and jumped back away from Roran to start casting. There was no way she, Luke, and Asch were going to be able to fight him all at the same time, not at close range at least. "Asch, use an arte!" she yelled before she started quickly chanting the verse for Infernal Prison. The original, to his credit, did do as ordered and began casting Stalagmite, and Sirris let off a second Infernal Prison while he was doing so.

As she ran past him, she said, a bit more quietly, "Two at a shot, rotate." Asch nodded and started casting again, this time an Icicle Rain. "Luke, an arte. Two and rotate," she repeated to the other redhead as Roran jumped out of the way of an attack. Luke stopped, backed up and started casting, leaving Sirris to lunge forward.

Nimbly dodging around Asch's Icicle Rain was no problem for Sirris or Roran, though the latter had scraped against two before earning a slash across his upper arm from Sirris, who immediately retreated to let Asch take her place at the same time as Luke's Flame Burst hit. Roran hadn't been expecting the sudden change in weapon from dagger to sword, and so ended up taking a hard hit to his left arm, rendering it useless for the time being.

Asch spent the next few seconds dodging attacks before a Turbulence sprouted from the ground, knocking Roran away. He stepped away and let Luke have a turn.

Luke had, over the course of half a year, developed a different fighting style, the older redhead realized. Rather than the primarily hack-and-slash techniques of the Albert style Van had taught them, he moved more lightly on his feet, an odd combination of his original style, the Sigmund style that Guy used, and Sirris's extremely acrobatic sword style.

Which, Asch realized, was the same style Roran used, only adapted for the knives he liked throwing around instead.

And after two or three long, drawn-out practice fights with Sirris, he knew exactly where every weakness was. Now, how could he exploit that?

As Sirris rushed in to attack Roran, he spotted his chance, dropping his next Icicle Rain a bit further to the left than he had originally planned to. Three of them hit Roran full-on, while two more missed, only barely. Sirris threw her dagger, managing to clip his side as he lunged in an attempt to get out of the way.

Asch then ran in as Sirris retrieved her dagger. Roran didn't seem to care that Sirris had run past him. He seemed a bit more preoccupied with Asch now, and the redhead had no doubts that his Icicle Rain had been the cause of that.

Roran lunged at Asch, a move he sidestepped before bringing his sword around in an attempt to slash at the black-haired man, but Roran was faster than he was.

All at once, three screamed names rang out, and one of them, Asch realized as he slumped to the ground, was Sirris yelling his own.

* * *

><p><strong>(Arashi's POV)<strong>

"Eight of us, three of you. This is bound to end badly," Luke stated. Sirris settle into a defensive position, holding her dagger in a reverse grip in front of her. Nigai smirked.

"Oh really?" she asked. "Keep them occupied," she muttered to Roran and Skye, who had retreated so that he was nearer to her. They nodded before running forward, while Nigai ran around behind the group, apparently to get at Ellie.

Sirris, Luke, and Asch found themselves fighting Roran, which didn't surprise me in the least, while Cloud, Amai, and I fought Skye. Valon stood in the center, casting fonic artes aimed for Nigai, who had very effectively separated Ellie from the rest of the group. I rolled my eyes and summoned the claw gauntlets I was so familiar with. I smirked.

This wasn't going to be an easy battle, oh no, but it was going to be interesting.

Amai was never a short-range fighter, so while she stayed back casting practically every arte she knew, I attacked Skye head-on. I'm not a fonist, I don't bother with that stuff. Just give me something to slash to pieces and I'll be happy.

Cloud rolled his eyes at what he normally refers to as my recklessness, but even he had to admit, Skye wasn't the fastest of the group. I was. Well, no, Nigai was, but that's beside the point. That, and his scythe needed space to swing. So, as long as I avoided him hitting me too hard with the handle, I was relatively safe, compared to Cloud, who, with his huge ass sword, had about the same range as Skye.

What is it with those two and big weapons?

_-Sirris ran past him, saying quietly, "Two at a shot, rotate." He nodded and started casting again, this time an Icicle Rain.-_

I stumbled, giving Skye the perfect opportunity to push me away and slice my stomach open at the same time. "Arashi, be careful!" Cloud grumbled. I rolled my eyes in response. As Amai ran over to heal me, I looked over at the trio fighting Roran. Sure enough, the moment I did, Sirris ran past Asch, who nodded and began casting. The blue fonons told me all I needed to know.

"Damn it. Amai," I cursed, looking at my sister. She frowned, finally finishing healing the gash across my midsection. She frowned.

"Your visions?" she guessed. I growled.

"Only one so far. Either Sirris or Asch," I replied. She looked strained.

"I've only got enough mana for one right now. I've been teleporting too much," she said. I frowned.

"Sirris. Roran has something against her and Jade," I told her. She nodded.

"I hope you're right."

"I hope you two aren't planning on chatting this whole battle away," Cloud grumbled as Skye tossed him to the ground nearby. I scowled and launched myself at the older twin, managing to rake my claws across his chest twice before he got just out of range.

I sighed and began this game of cat and mouse. Cloud attacked whenever we were in his range, but for the most part, I spent a majority of the battle chasing Skye around, him keeping just out of my range, me moving too fast for him to hit.

_-Sirris rushed in to attack Roran as Asch spotted his chance, dropping his next Icicle Rain a bit further to the left than it looked like he had originally planned. Three of them hit Roran full-on, while two more missed, only barely. Sirris threw her dagger, managing to clip his side as he lunged in an attempt to get out of the way.-_

I lost my footing again, this time falling off of the ledge, just like Van had. Well, not exactly, as he stumbled backwards off of it, and I just managed to be clumsy enough to trip over the edge.

I managed to grab the edge, and Amai rushed over to grab my arms and pull me up. Such a deceptively small girl.

I spent a moment breathing heavily and watching the other battle while Amai stood and started casting. I was not surprised at all to see her arte envelope Sirris. Of course, as quickly as that girl moved, I wasn't surprised that she didn't notice. That, and it wasn't as if she could really be healed or anything. She'd just popped a gel into her mouth.

The third and final vision hit right as I was about to stand again.

_-Roran lunged at Asch, a move the redhead sidestepped before bringing his sword around in an attempt to slash at the black-haired man, but Roran was faster than he was._

_Sirris's scream was joined by two others as Asch slumped to the ground.-_

My heart beat harder in my chest as I looked over at the other group. We had guessed wrong!

I started running. I was just close enough, maybe, just maybe, I could stop it myself. Before I reached the edge of our 'battlefield' with Skye, though, the annoying scythe-wielder in question blocked my path. I lashed out at him angrily, not really seeing anything anymore.

Skye pushed me away, and I let myself panic. Where was Cloud?

That bloody scythe came down…

…and embedded itself in Amai's gut as she stepped between us.

As I screamed, I vaguely noted the shouts of two others.

* * *

><p><strong>(3<strong>**rd**** Person POV)**

"Eight of us, three of you. This is bound to end badly," Luke stated. Sirris settle into a defensive position, holding her dagger in a reverse grip in front of her. Nigai smirked.

"Oh really?" she asked. "Keep them occupied," she muttered to Roran and Skye, who had retreated so that he was nearer to her. They nodded before running forward, while Nigai ran around behind the group to get at Ellie, a move that had Valon cautious.

Sirris, Luke, and Asch found themselves fighting Roran, while Arashi, Cloud, and Amai fought Skye. Valon stood in the center, casting fonic artes aimed for Nigai, who had very effectively separated Ellie from the rest of the group.

"Now, what game does she think she's playing?" he wondered, dropping an Absolute on top of Nigai. Or rather, on top of where Nigai should have been in that moment. Valon growled. The woman was fast, he'd give her that much. At this rate, he'd have to give up sending artes her way and actually start shooting at her.

After wasting a few more artes, Valon rolled his eyes, having finally gotten sick of bothering with it. His guns were out in the next second, already firing on the woman.

Nigai growled as the first few bullets shot past her. Valon smirked. "What's the matter? Had a run-in with Legretta recently?" he taunted. Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Sometimes, I have to wonder how healthy it is to leave you around that kid," she muttered. Valon shrugged.

"Hey, Arashi's not that bad, Ellie," he replied. Nigai scowled and shot a blast of something blue at Valon. Not expecting the sudden change of tactics, the blue blob hit him, knocking him back and soaking his shirt. He raised an eyebrow as Nigai sent a Splash to join him, which he managed to dodge, but only barely.

A green mass struck Ellie and sent her flying as well, except while trapped in a miniature tornado, and Valon realized exactly what Nigai was throwing at them.

'Fonons… Damn, this must be one of those abilities Amai was talking about their family having,' he thought. Nigai tossed more fonons at him, this time red, and he rolled out of the way. Red meant the fifth fonon, and he did not especially want to be burnt today. Mt. Zaleho had been bad enough.

Thoughts of the volcano were immediately pushed out of his mind as he started shooting again to help cover Ellie.

This time, he was a bit late though. They had been at this for… how long? And he had wasted time by thinking as well.

A freakish, silver-green aura surrounded Nigai as she struck Ellie's chest. But, rather than being sent flying, the hand simply passed _into_ the green-haired girl. Valon gasped as Ellie started fighting for air. Her eyes continually switched between the violet of Nigai's eyes, her own green, and… the sky blue of the rest of Nigai's siblings.

As the silver-green aura began to fade from Nigai and pass into Ellie, Valon realized exactly what was going on. His mind shot from everything else that was happening, he screamed his 'sister's name…

Just at the same time as Sirris cried out for Asch and Arashi for Amai.

* * *

><p><strong>Tony: So. It ended up, Part III of Bloodline is going to be a bit of a collaboration. I say 'a bit', because Kairi's giving me a bunch of plot bunnies for it, and I can't think of a better way to use them. At any rate, Part I is almost concluded. Chapter 22 will be posted on the 20<strong>**th****. I'm not going to start posting Part II, Bloody Heirloom, until… well, sometime in… a few months, at least. (Let me get a good plot structured out for it, won't you? Sheesh… I don't want a repeat of Bloody Nightshade, which was 'here's a concept, go with it' and it went… in directions I really didn't want it to. Not at first, at least.)**

**Leon: You done ranting yet?**

**Tony: No. By the way, I apologize in advance for all of the POV switching next chapter, but I was trying to summarize everything and get to everyone and… Well, it turned out okay, but… Oh, and Leon? Stop grumbling, or I'll change my mind and take you out of Bloody Heirloom.**

**Leon: (silent)**

**Tony: Good boy. Now then… Leomitch! …I'll have you know, midnight is a very strange time for me to be up. On another note… you are welcome. Also, the mention of council members pops up again in the last chapter… You really ought to take Sirris's advice before my confusingly divine intervention becomes less confusing due to lack of said intervention. (This line will make more sense after next chapter.) And don't worry, Shadow. I understand idiots on sugar. –pointedly glances at Kairi-**

**Kairi: -too busy singing something in a foreign language to notice-**

**Tony: -sighs- Anyway, hoping to see you this and next chapter.**

**Nyra: -whispering to Leon and a brown-haired boy with blue-gray eyes- This is the point where he stops and says 'Holy shit, next chapter's the last!' and then faints…**

**Tony: Oh crap… You know I just realized again... the next chapter is the last… -passes out from shock-**

**Nyra: See? Told ya.**

**Arashi: -rolls eyes and turns to readers- Please read and review! BEFORE Nyra talks Tony into lettin' her into Bloody Heirloom, preferably!  
><strong>


	22. Chapter XXII, All the Pieces, The End

**Tony: Holy… Effing… Shit. This is it, guys… This is the end… Well, the end of Bloody Nightshade. So, go enjoy it!**

**(I still don't own TotA.)**

**P.S.- Kairi wrote the first paragraph for me. It's very beautiful… She really is more of a poet than a novelist…**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter XXII<strong>

**All the Pieces Lie Where They Fell**

A battlefield is many things. A death ground, or perhaps the place where heroes are born. A field meant to prove the courage and strength of men, to test the minds that conduct the battle upon it. For battle itself is a dance, an intricate ballet of death and destruction, made to look beautiful, but horrifyingly ghastly in its reality. Perhaps a battlefield is a stage then, built for the sole purpose of performing this carefully crafted and startlingly strange ritual.

In any instance, the scene that greeted Cloud the moment his eyes snapped open once more (he'd only been out of it for a few seconds) was the dance of no-longer-organized chaos. And what could be worse than hearing three people scream the names of three different people?

Perhaps, he thought as he spotted the dagger in the back of the redhead who was so carefully cradled in Sirris's arms as she whispered something to him, the blood-stained end of a scythe sticking out of his little sister's gut, the silver-green aura around Ellie, it was the knowledge that everything that had gone wrong had disadvantaged them, and not their enemies.

It didn't take long for Cloud to decide that Ellie, or rather, Nigai now, was the greatest threat. While her eyes continued to flicker between the violet and crimson of Mint's now utterly lifeless body, the blue of their family, and the green that belonged to Ellie, he knew there was still hope. But of course, Nigai knew that too, and she wouldn't give up her new body so easily.

That, and Sirris seemed to have picked something up from that one man she and Jade had fought. What was his name, again? Leon?

Either way, Luke took his original from her just as a blood-red aura surrounded her. Cloud flinched at the glare she shot at Roran before running over to block Nigai's attempt at striking Valon with one of the two swords Ellie always carried.

"Let her go, Nigai," he ordered. The green-haired girl smirked, her eyes temporarily freezing on blue.

"Make me, _brother_," she hissed. Cloud pushed, knocking Nigai off balance, before storming over to her and holding her down by her neck.

"I can't. But Amai can," he replied. Nigai laughed harshly.

"Amai will be dead before the hour's out!" she told him. Cloud refused to look at her. He wasn't an idiot. He had seen the gaping wound in Amai's stomach. But, she had recovered from worse, hadn't she?

"Skye." Cloud started at how strong his little sister's voice sounded. He turned and was shocked to see her standing, perfectly straight, and still with his twin's scythe in her midsection. "Remove your gods-damned scythe," Amai ordered. It was then that Cloud caught sight of the silver aura that was slowly surrounding her. He raised an eyebrow.

Skye angrily jerked his scythe out of his sister's abdomen, only to watch the gash, which had simply been made larger by his action, heal up in an instant. Amai's eyes were not the sky blue they normally were, Cloud noted as she turned and walked directly to where he crouched over the Nigai-possessed Ellie, but rather a strange shade flickering between gold and silver.

Nigai looked genuinely afraid as her little sister approached, and, aside from Sirris and Roran, the former of whom was in a berserker mode, and the latter of whom was simply trying to stay alive, the entire group was watching Amai as she knelt next to Nigai and Cloud, so no one noticed Skye as he dismissed his scythe and jumped down into the core the way Van had gone.

"I gave you chances, Nigai. You've pushed this too far, too long," she stated coldly, in a tone of voice that did not belong to her at all. A silver aura pulsed around her right hand as she rested it on Ellie's chest. "I couldn't save Mint from your tainted soul. But I can and will help Ellie."

The silver disappeared, and Nigai screamed, her eyes freezing on blue until the scream faded, causing the blue irises to revert to their natural green. Ellie panted, but Amai stood and walked over to where Luke sat with Asch's head in his lap. The original's face was paler than could have possibly been healthy.

Amai knelt at his side, but Asch ignored her. His eyes were locked on Sirris as her red blur continually attacked Roran. The silver-haired girl turned his face to look at her.

"Her time is running short, unless someone can find some way to stable her," she told him. The silvery aura surrounding Amai enveloped Asch as well. However, it was obvious the blood loss had taken a toll on the redhead, as he lost consciousness, and the exertion an even worse toll on Amai.

Cloud could only watch in shock as his sister collapsed.

* * *

><p><strong>(Sirris's POV)<strong>

It was fading. This strange, berserking state was fading. How did I know that? Because I was thinking again. I know, a strange way to determine something. But, all things considered, it was a fitting way to judge it.

Now, where did I learn to berserk?

I decided it wasn't a problem of mine as I spotted the ledge nearby. If I couldn't kill the bastard the proper way, then damn it, at least I'd send him to join Van!

I got to do it the first way when Roran, exhausted as he was, tripped over a stray rock. I flicked my wrist.

That was all it took to imbed my dagger in that son of a bitch's chest. I stood over him and smirked. I'd been killing for years, but it never meant anything to me. This one, this death meant something.

And then I remembered Asch. The small amount of inner peace I felt at Roran's death dissipated immediately. I turned to look at where I had left him and his replica. I almost screamed again when I saw the pool of blood around them. It was larger, it was definitely larger than it had been, oh why, oh why, oh why him?!

My breath came in gasps as I rushed to his side. No, no!

I had confessed! I had confessed everything to him! Everything, and now Roran was dead! This was where I was supposed to find out he was alive, this was where the happy ending should have been! I couldn't lose him now, not after—

After what? A couple battles? We had spent eleven years apart before even seeing each other again! And when we had, we'd been on opposite sides of this war for a part of it. Or at least, not on the same side.

So why did I feel this way?

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I didn't need to look up to see that it was Arashi. He still hadn't taken the claw gauntlets off. A flash of white obscured my vision before it went dark.

_There was a haunted look in Jade's eyes. His face was grayed, and his hair limp, not at all shiny or even mildly healthy looking. He had to be a good deal older as well. There was no way his hair could have gotten that streaked with gray in so short an amount of time. There was little light in the cell, but it illuminated the two pictures that sat in the man's lap. One had to have been taken in Grand Chokmah. The falls near the palace could be seen in the background._

_A younger Jade in the uniform of a lower-ranked officer stood rather awkwardly next to a smiling woman. Her hair was blonde, and her eyes a bright neon green. Had it not been for the lighter shade of her hair and her less angular face, I would have mistaken the woman for myself._

_Jade muttered a name as his fingers brushed against the picture. He then shifted the second photo so that it was on top of the other. This one was most definitely me, and the group around me was, for the most part, easily recognizable. There was Asch at my side, Emperor Peony with Nephry, Noelle and Guy, Tear and Luke, Jade, who stood near Anise, and Natalia standing next to possibly the strangest boy I had ever seen._

_Long black hair was pulled into a braid that hung as long as Tear's unbound hair, while messy bangs almost hid mismatched eyes, one gold, one green. I almost laughed at the sight of the blonde-haired, green-eyed man who had gotten caught in the background of the picture, very obviously arguing with Raven about something._

_Another name whispered as the once-colonel looked at the picture of me, and I gasped as I realized something._

_Arashi had answered my question._

"_Risa… Sirris…"_

I gasped as the vision ended and looked up at Arashi. The look on his face told me all I needed to know as I looked back down at Asch and brushed a strand of hair out of his face. The slow and shallow but steady rise and fall of his chest told me that he was still alive.

And, for now, that was all I needed from him.

"Hey, Sirris?"

Although, it would have been nice if his damn replica would have given us some space. I shot a glare up at him.

"You do realize that Jade is currently sitting in jail, and you just killed our best chance of getting the both of you out, right?"

I groaned.

"Fuck my life."

* * *

><p>Leon was lost. Of that much, he was certain. He knew, absolutely <em>knew<em>, that he had either wandered into the epitome of insanity, or he had accidentally 'ported.

"Lee-Lee!"

Apparently the former.

The berserker muttered a few choice words as a girl in a corset and frilly skirt ran up behind him and jumped onto his back. Her black hair was streaked through with green and silver, and her gold eyes glinted mischievously. A blue-gray tattoo of sorts dominated the right side of her face.

"Hello, Rue," Leon greeted her slowly. She released him and danced around so she was in front of him.

"So, did you find Ion?" she asked. Leon shook his head.

"Not the one I'm after," he replied. Rue tilted her head to the side.

"Fon Master?" she guessed. The brunette crossed his arms.

"Both the Fon Master's replica, the original Fon Master, although he doesn't go by Ion anymore, but his new name's close enough, _and_ the Scythean Orakle's replica. That's three different Ions, Rue. If I'd known finding him would be this difficult, I wouldn't have volunteered," he grumbled. Rue giggled.

"Oh, come on, stuffy old Lyondell Roneshart. You'll find your little brother," she teased him. He rolled his eyes.

"In the next life, maybe," he shot back, then, regaining his composure, he sighed. "Kairi called yet?"

Rue's eyes darkened. "No. I've never known her to go this long without calling, Leon. Either something's happened, or…" she trailed off. Leon stood straight, rather than leaning on the wall as he had been. An earthy golden-brown glow surrounded him for a moment before he blinked out of existence.

Only seconds later, however, he reappeared, gasping and clutching his chest. Rue squeaked and fell to her knees, healing the burn mark that Leon had been clutching at.

Gold eyes met ice blue in a combination of shock, understanding, and fear. Rue took a deep breath before even trying to speak. But when she did, her voice contained a great deal of anxiety.

"Leon… We're stuck."

* * *

><p>Legretta scowled at the man who stood in front of her. He had just finished some rant about someone named Shadow not containing a man named Silver. From the way he had been going on, she figured it was a pretty serious problem.<p>

But… why was he staring at her like that?

She couldn't figure out if he wanted to kill her or… whatever else he seemed to be thinking of. So, in an attempt to get rid of him, she drew her guns. "If I were you, I'd be getting out of here," she prompted. The man crossed his arms.

"Or what?" he shot back. Legretta gave in and loaded the guns, a simple process, but one that resulted in a definite 'click' ringing out. The man rolled his eyes. "Like Tony would let me die anyway," he muttered. The blonde woman raised an eyebrow.

"Who's Tony?" she asked, not having seen anyone else in the immediate area recently, other than her companions. "Is he a Seventh Fonist?" she added. That would make a bit of sense.

The man's answer simply served to confuse her even more. "What? Oh, no. He's the author," he said. Legretta lowered her guns.

"The author of what?" she wondered. The man grinned.

"This!" was his enthusiastic reply.

By this point, Legretta was fairly certain this man was either insane, or delusional. Or both. "So… he's writing a biography about you?"

The man looked at her for a moment in confusion. "Huh?" he replied, rather unintelligently. Then, seeming to figure out what she meant, he laughed. "I wish! No, he's the author of this fanfiction!"

Legretta crossed her arms. Did she dare ask? "…What in the world is a fanfiction?" she inquired, giving in to her curiosity. The man froze.

"Um… Tony, if you're paying attention, now would be a wonderful time to, uh, I don't know. Help? Get me outta here maybe?" he said, seemingly to thin air. Legretta sighed.

"Alright, I think that's enough of your insanity," she decided, raising her guns again. One less idiot in the world…

"_**I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that."**_

Legretta started visibly, looking around for the source of the seemingly disembodied voice.

"_**By the way, Leomitch… You got yourself into this mess, and I'm not even sure how. You can get yourself out."**_

The blonde man proceeded to spit out a few words that Legretta was certain were not appropriate in any way at all before taking off. She stared after his retreating back, wondering what had just happened.

Some time later, while she was still standing there, contemplating the mysterious man and the disembodied voice, Largo joined her.

"Is something wrong?" he asked. Legretta put a hand to her temple.

"Either I'm going insane, or there is something really… weird… going on here."

"_**Both, probably."**_

The disembodied voice became disembodied laughter at the looks of utter confusion on the duo's faces.

* * *

><p>Sirris's face was caught somewhere between a smile and a scowl. The person this expression was aimed at?<p>

Jade, of course. Or at least, his reflection. Having only spent two nights in the dungeons below the palace, he was no worse for the wear. And, after the entire thing had been explained out in detail, the council, down by three members now, as their head had been the most recent to 'disappear', had pardoned the father and daughter both, and registered Sirris as an assassin to boot.

Of course, much of that could be attributed to Peony and the helpful council member, who had informed them that his name was Sebastian. Sebastian knew the rules regarding the Assassins' Guild very well, being a seasoned assassin himself despite his young age of only twenty-four. Peony was in charge of the council, since the head of it was 'missing', which meant that between Sebastian's knowledge of the law and its loopholes, and the Emperor's influence, Sirris and Jade had a good shot.

Now, the two of them were standing in his manor. And, to make things worse, Guy and Aslan Frings had stubbornly insisted on a party. A small one, but a party nonetheless.

And for girls, parties, Sirris had learned long ago, meant dresses.

Unless they were short, casual, and easy to move around in, Sirris _hated_ dresses.

In the end, it had been Natalia to talk her into it. The dress was simple; the princess never would have gotten Sirris to even consider wearing it if it hadn't been. The light green fabric flowed gently around her ankles, matching her eyes perfectly. Sirris took a deep breath and spun again, letting the dress flare slightly.

She wasn't good with parties. This was… well, no. The one at the Fabre manor didn't count, as she and Asch (though he was Luke at the time) had been hiding in a couple of large potted plants next to each other so they could watch. So, this would be her first.

"Oh, this is going to be a disaster," she grumbled.

Jade chuckled. "You look beautiful," he told her, his crimson eyes shining in the mirror. Sirris turned to shoot her half-scowl, half-smile at him. She couldn't muster up a glare anymore, it seemed. Not since she had pulled Asch aside that one day and confided one last thing to him.

The scowl slipped away completely and she smiled, causing Jade to roll his eyes.

"Come on. Before I change my mind about letting Asch into this house," he grumbled. Sirris giggled, actually giggled, rather than putting on a front.

"You'd kill the poor sot if it were anyone else," Arashi joked as the two of them stepped out of her room. Jade smiled, one of those 'you don't want to know what I'm thinking about because it involves strange kinds of torture' smiles that never failed to silence Arashi.

Sirris simply shook her head at the two. "Come on. We're going to be late for our own party," she muttered playfully before pushing past her father. Jade sighed and watched her go, while Arashi frowned.

"Hey… Cloud's takin' Amai back to Hikarikage tonight. Ell 'n I are headed out tomorrow. Jus'… keep an eye out for the guys I told ya to, will ya?" he asked.

Jade nodded. "I can do that. I've a few words I'd like to share with Leon as it is," he replied. Arashi grinned.

"Alright. Now, c'mon! We're missin' out on a party, here!"

* * *

><p>The room was fairly dark, and mostly empty. There were four pieces of furniture. One was a table that had a map pinned to in. Multiple colored pins marked a multitude of places on the map.<p>

The other three pieces of furniture were beds. Two were empty, the covers of one sloppily made, the other not made at all.

In the third and final bed was a person, however. Silver hair fell around the woman's face, her bangs hiding the main part of the right side. A light groan escaped her lips as she began to move. Slowly, sky-blue eyes opened and looked around. She sat up, and the candle light reflected off of her hair, revealing light green highlights that had been otherwise unnoticeable.

"Fuck. Little bitch actually did inherit mom's God Aura," she muttered, running long, thin fingers through her silver hair. She scowled and slipped out of the bed, ignoring the fact that all she wore was a black skirt and a sleeveless maroon top that left her midsection bare.

She approached the table and scowled. It hadn't changed since they had left for the Absorption Gate, which meant that either Skye had died there, or he was out doing his own damn thing. Either way, Nigai didn't care. She needed to know who was where, and if that meant going out and learning the old fashioned way, then so be it, she'd go.

But first… Nigai pulled a large, flat box out from under the bed she had woken in. Lifting the lid, she smiled. Mint's ability had meant she was always armed, no matter where she went, but her own ability was rather useless compared to that. Of course, puppets like these didn't have souls, so she didn't have to fight anything to control them, which meant that she didn't have to actually possess the damn things to use them.

The two dolls sprung to life almost immediately as silver-green threads connected her fingertips to them. Nigai smirked and held her hands up, as if she had run into a glass wall, then stood. The puppets hung nearly lifeless a couple feet below where her hands were as she took them into the area Roran had used to train Sirris. The wide, open space was absolutely perfect for practicing an old, now-rarely-used skill.

Nigai began flicking her fingers around, and the puppets came to life, both growing exponentially in size before beginning anything else.

Some time later, Nigai grew bored of her solo practice and returned to the room she had awoken in to search for warmer clothing. What she was wearing was fine for the underground base, but outside, Mt. Roneal was still buried in snow.

Once in slightly more appropriate clothing, Nigai stood next to the table, looking over the map and trying to figure out how the people marked out would have moved after the battle.

"You know, I was planning on fixing that up once I'd gotten some rest."

Nigai glared at Skye as he walked over. "Where have you been?" she hissed. Skye smirked.

"Hey, be a little nicer to your baby brother. I brought you a present," he replied. Nigai's eye narrowed as she shot a look past Skye. Her irritation drained out of her face almost immediately as a sadistic and almost cruel light sparked in her eyes.

"You can have tomorrow and the day after off," she told him. Skye chuckled.

"You're welcome," he shot back before heading over to the bed. Nigai let loose a quiet cackle of her own.

Because, you see, standing just inside the doorway and looking dizzy and dazed, likely due to Skye removing him from the core of the world, was Sync.

* * *

><p>Standing on top of a cliff somewhere on the edge of the Meggiora Highlands were two people. Both had long hair, but while one's was gold streaked intermittently with copper, the other's was a brilliant red. Two sets of emerald green eyes shone out as they watched the sunset.<p>

"How long until she decides to find her?" the redhead, a male, asked. His companion, a female, sighed.

"Days, months. There's no telling now. I'm sure of one thing though," she told him. The man chuckled.

"Let me guess, we have to stay out of sight?" he asked. She nodded, and he sighed. "I know, Kairi. I mean… Look what happened to our dimension. It's bad enough we've got to try to stop Heylii. But… I don't want to watch Auldrant be destroyed because of otherworldly influences again."

Kairi sighed. "Consider yourself lucky. I had to watch it happen to Haden so many times it's not even funny anymore."

Her companion crossed his arms as the sun dipped below the horizon fully. "Come on. We've got things to do," he prompted. Kairi smirked.

"Is that so?" she teased. Without another word, she disappeared in a flurry of golden dust. The man rolled his eyes, disappearing in a burst of blue and gold flames.

The Meggiora Highlands were silent once again, and no evidence remained of the two who had been there only moments earlier.

No evidence, save for a pitch-black locket on an ebony chain.

* * *

><p><strong>Tony: Suffice to say, Kairi wrote that last tiny section. Although, I don't think we'll be seeing Kairi Kitari (the 'Kairi' in that part of the story) or her companion for a while. Not until the ending of Bloody Heirloom, at least. Also, the character described in the vision in the second section is Dark Daemione, a character of Kairi's. (Yes, you can see the influence the plot bunnies she gave me had on the story.)<strong>

**Leon: On a totally different note, it has been exactly one year since Bloody Nightshade was first posted. Did you know that? Well, now you know why Tony was so desperate to finish on the 20****th****.**

**Nyra: On another note again… Tony won't be posting Bloody Heirloom for a few months at least. (Unless you all hurry over to his profile and give Bloody Heirloom a dozen or so votes on his poll. That might motivate him to post earlier than planned.)**

**Tony: Nyra, shut up.**

**Leon: Yes, please.**

**Tony: Leon, you too. Oh, almost forgot! There's a link to my new blog on my profile, and sooner or later, I'm thinking I'm gonna get a Twitter. That way, you'll have a few different ways to keep track of the progress of Bloody Heirloom, because I'll be posting it either after getting twenty votes for it on my poll or when I hit what I'm judging will be the end of Part I of Book 2 (like finding out that Sirris was Jade's daughter was the end of Part I of Book 1). So, yeah. Keep yourselves updated! It'll be a while, sadly. (Unless you're all just that crazy and I got from two votes to twenty in like, a week, which I doubt will happen.)**

**Leon: Please review! We'll see everyone as soon as possible.  
><strong>


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